Along for the ride:

Monday, September 28, 2015

Leaps of Faith, or not...?

When a seed or bulb that has been planted pushes apart the dirt with its first green shoots do you smile and envision the promise of the future flower, or set up camp next to it, agonize over and analyze every inch of growth? Will it still grow if you are not observing? Will your shadow block the sunlight and inhibit the flower from becoming?
When you follow a recipe to bake a cake, do you expect your world to be filled with the glorious aromas of cake baking, resulting in a cake, fresh and warm from the oven, or do you doubt your skills and the quality of your ingredients? Do you need an electrician or plumber to verify that the oven will work and check repeatedly if the timer is functioning as it should? 
Will your successful cake bring you greater pleasure, or be tarnished, by the anxiety that flavored the process?
Do I need to detail the quirks and foibles of the people I encounter every day, in this very specialized corner of Tech-Engineer-Land, or will my readers grasp the point I'm making as it wafts by? I choose to have faith.


14 comments:

  1. Sounds like generalized anxiety...It will pass has become my mantra...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. e, you're right, but does it spring from insecurity or arrogance? "I believe I am the only competent person around"

      Delete
    2. You ARE sometimes the only competent person around!

      Delete
    3. Denise, nice to see you here and thanks for your comment.

      Delete
  2. I think faith is the only answer. If you have done all you can to properly prepare the seed bed, and taken the care to water and fertilize as instructed, then the rest is in the hands of the fates. Once we have done our jobs to the best of our abilities, the outcome is out of our hands. It's not easy to let go, but unless you have some direct control of the ultimate end, then it's all you really can do.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jean, exactly. Why worry about a problem that you don't yet have?

      Delete
    2. Ah, there are those who do not plan adequately, however--some school administrators I recall--who were often in crisis management state because they did not anticipate the possible problems their "plans" might encounter. Once, at least, I warned them ahead of time and their answer, "Oh, you can't plan for every contingency." The "contingency," in that case, was really quite obvious, but they preferred to stay blind.

      Delete
    3. Jean, agreed. You do have to behave like an adult, but not one who believes the sky is falling. One of my fave sayings is "Trust in Allah, but still tie up your camel"

      Delete
  3. Welcome to the club of the unwilling to believe that others are just as competent as you. Reading 'Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error' (Kathryn Shultz) was a hugely entertaining and informative eye-opener for me about why we all think we're the ones to know best.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. D. I have my specialties and honor the fact that others have theirs (until proven otherwise). I find it disrespectful when someone assumes that my decades of experience in my field don't really have any value. I'm surprised that some of my clients aren't performing brain surgery on themselves. How hard could it be?

      Delete
  4. I'm guilty of neither. What I tend to do is FORGET. If I see that sprouting seed, I forget that it's there. If it grows, I think that oh yes, I remember that seedling. If it doesn't, I have no memory of it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Maria, my garden is not huge and I must hand water every couple of days, so I see each plant personally on a regular basis. I like your view point.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Given my all round lack of Star Quality and Razzle-Dazzleness , I'm usually delighted with any sort of plant or cake at all !
    But working with young children , as I did , I had to plan for any eventual possibility ... eyes on the back of one's head a must .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. S&S, I believe in planning and preparation, so much so that I trust my methods. Children and animals require a preemptive hyper-vigilance, I agree.

      Delete