Just Wondering

Now that I am being told there is a "deal" in the works on health care reform, I am starting to wonder. How much better will the economy get as it tries to absorb the tax increases necessary to fund "the deal?" I'm just not one of those who believe the stories about "revenue neutral." How do we extend coverage to millions of people, protect Medicare, and have revenue neutrality? How do we pay "the highest rate of pay for the Senior Executive service under Section 5382(b) of Title 5," and the members of the bureaucracy the Health Choices Commissioner will head, and have cost neutrality? Do you know any government employees who are motivated to save money every day? That's what it would take to make this pay for itself. The employees of this new department of Health Choices will, at the very least, have to be dedicated to saving their own salaries every day.

Then there is the cost of health care for the millions who are added to the rolls. In my experience, health coverage costs at least $300 a month. So multiply the 20 million or so people times $300 each month and you have the expenditure that makes me wonder. Now, I know the Congress has a lot of smart people among its members and on its staff, but I'm wondering why none of those people can come forward and resolve all the doubts that I and others have. It must be something obvious we are all missing. I have attempted to glean some of this from the 2,016 page House Bill, but realized I was wasting my time as the Senate was preparing a markedly different bill that is 2,700 pages long, and I have yet to see it. Then there's the compromise bill that will finally be hammered out by a joint committee. What will that look like? I wonder.

Let's just relax. "It isn't going to take effect for several years; it will eventually be revenue-neutral…" We don't have to worry about this any time soon. But, I'm wondering about when it will become something to worry about. When will it all be paid for? How will we deal with the taxes? A basic principle that I subscribe to is that tax increases don't stimulate economic growth, they retard it. I'm wondering, am I wrong? I don't think so. If you increase taxes, you add to costs, you reduce profits; you reduce the amount of capital available for reinvestment. Isn't that how it works?

Oh, and the new villains of the piece, the insurance companies. What do we do with them? I'm wondering if they will continue to exist once we regulate away any profits. Oh, the government will decide what a fair profit will be. Do you guess the Federal Reserve will set profits, kind of like they control interest rates? I'm wondering how that is going to work. I may not be as smart as our Congresspersons who don't read the bills they pass, but I read where insurance companies will have to apply for approval before they change premiums on coverage they sell. I'm wondering if they will all have to submit their applications all at once. Or, will they have to combine as many insurance company applications together as possible so that the process won't take up the entire year. It just makes me wonder. How about you?

After That You’re On Your Own

I read something the other day that has stuck with me. "Biology will only take you to age 50, after that you have to give yourself a reason to live." At first, that didn't register with me. Biology? Taking me to age 50? But, if you're willing to combine biology with society's imperatives that have evolved from biology's, maybe it makes better sense. Biology drives us to ensure the survival of the species. You know, procreation and all that. Humans raise their children to have families of their own, etc. So society sets it up that way--we are brought into this world, and society has created this set of imperatives that carry us along. Most of us find ourselves down the track a long ways before we ever consider another choice. At age 3 or 4 we enter school and we are in the education box for 15 to 20 more years. Next, it's pursue a career so you can find a mate, have a family, etc. Raising that family will take you to about 50, so it makes sense. Now, I know there are some out there with the courage to start another family at 50, but, whoa….

So, having "been there done that" on raising a family, it's time for many of us to find a new purpose before we forget how to live.

It seems there are two paths to pursue, find something that really engages you and get involved in that, or find something with a higher purpose. What about purpose that engages you fully? Do you have a good sense of what really engages you? Don't wait to find out you've walked away from all the things that engage you when you left your first half career. Look carefully at what strengths you are using and how you feel when you are using them. Find somewhere to use them in another setting. Were you really engaged when you were speaking to groups? Did you lose yourself in writing? Was financial analysis what really revved you up? Was it nothing at all at work, but work-outside-of-work that really gave you enjoyment?

If you are drawn to the level of a higher purpose, there are lots of places where there is need. While you're out there looking for that purpose, how about giving some thought to Phil Collins' song—and "think twice, it's just another day for you and me in paradise." It's probably just me, but for weeks I haven't been able to get through a day without some echo of that song—

She calls out to the man on the street
sir, can you help me?
Its cold and I've nowhere to sleep,
Is there somewhere you can tell me?

Winter is approaching and there are all kinds of people suffering, hope we can find a way to help some of them.

Another thought, I know a man who, with a group of other successful men, mentors young boys at a nearby middle school. He provides an example, an adult they can talk to, and friendship along with some help in school. The program is highly successful and is having a real measurable impact on these children. How's that for some purpose?

In almost every community, there is Hospice. Living well in the end of life is important for everyone and there are both career opportunities and opportunities for volunteers. Giving back in this special way is another purpose.

Choose whatever path suits you, but don't rely on biology or society to carry you along. Finding your purpose is a job you'll have to do on your own.

Questions for Middlescence

A business consultant and coach whom I admire, Sherri Garrity (www.corporatefugitive.com), recently posted four questions her daughter was asked to ponder on the first day of school in the 3^rd grade. Sherri thought they were extraordinary, and I do, too. Here they are—

1. Who do we want to be?
   
2. What kind of people do we want to be?
   
3. What do we believe in?
   
4. What do we value or think is important?
   

Sherri asks them in a business context, and I think they are worth examining as you set the course for your 2^nd half of life. You see, these are the sort of questions you had the chance to answer once before—when you were struggling with adolescence. On the threshold of adulthood, you were answering those questions with the choices you made.

Who do we want to be?
Many of us were advised to focus on what we wanted to be when we grew up, and steered to answers that were really career choices. While that has served its purpose, you are probably freer to rethink this one in Middlescence. You don't have young children to raise, college loans to pay for, a home to buy, and all the other things that compelled you to work at a career that provided for your wants and needs. But who do you want to be, really? Do I want to be what I do?

What kind of people do we want to be? There was another wrinkle on this one. You answered this one by your choices in who you spent time with—what friends you had in school and the places you hung out. Later, it could have been the spouse you chose, the church you attended, the neighborhoods where you moved. It turns out your parents were right to be concerned about the crowd you ran around with, because it has a great deal to do with what kind of person you wind up becoming.

What do we believe in? In turbulent times, we do (and likely should) spend time on this one. Trials test our beliefs. If I believe in helping build a better community, I take an active role in helping make it so. If I believe children should be protected, then I do something when I see one in danger. In Middlescence you are getting a second chance to determine who you want to be, what kind of person you want to be, and more. Look at what you really believe for some answers.

What do we value or think is important? I don't know that it isn't possible to start here and work your way backward. If you think clean water is important, it may be because you believe we ought to be good stewards of the abundance around us, which may lead you to want to be around people who are interested in helping clean things up and that you want to be a person who takes action to protect and improve our waterways, instead of telling others what they should do about it or just talking. Just an example and not one that's necessarily universal, but I have a friend who has started up a foundation to support educating children on the importance of protecting our water, and I admire her stepping up to do something.

Whether you start at the last question or the first, these are worth examining as you tackle your great 2^nd half "do-over."

Yes, Lying on a Sun-Baked Beach Makes You Happy

Ok, I am not making this up. "As the thermometer goes up, so does your mood -- according to a new University of Colorado study. CU scientist Christopher Lowry, an assistant professor of integrative physiology, received a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to continue studying the link between temperature and mood." At first, I was going to make this about place, one of the four elements of the "good life" in the study done by the MetLife Mature Market Institute with Dr. Richard Leider. Leider hypothesized that the Good Life was composed of four elements—Money, Meaning, Medicine and Place; and went on to discover that Meaning trumps all of them in the minds of the majority of more than a thousand persons aged 45-74 in this study group.

But enough about that, I was using the sun-baked beach headline to congratulate myself on the fact that I have settled on an island off the Carolina coast. But as I read on, I learned that warmth can come from within as well. The sense of well-being that comes from warmth can come from elevating your body temperature with exercise. Another data point on why we feel better after we exercise, isn't it? It seems that we have known since the 1970's that warming a small area of the skin on rats in the laboratory produced heightened levels of serotonin in the brain. So, we can get this mood-elevating boost from lying on the beach, or from exercising. What about the warm feeling that doing something for someone else can produce? Let's ask Dr. Lowry to work that into his study. I think I know already, but I'd like to know if science backs that up.

Persistence and Integrity

On a recent Saturday, my barber and I were having a discussion about persistence and integrity. Huh? It seems she asked me how I planned to spend the rest of my day off. Being honest, I told her I had to go home and finish my vacuuming. She giggled at this, and I explained that I am the designated vacuumer in our house, thanks to my commitment to my position on the subject of whether we buy another vacuum. You see, we replaced our last vacuum while it still had some useful life. My spouse was tired of the fact that it was a nuisance to empty it as you tended to spread dust around when doing so. The dust could have been controlled with a little caution. She tired of the new vacuum quickly ("It's too hard to push"). Being the man, I refused to buy another vacuum so soon when we now had two serviceable vacuums. Always a step ahead of me, she promptly informed me that I could do the vacuuming, then. My barber thought I might be a bit "stubborn," I called it "persistence." I acknowledged to her that I am weakening, and may be buying a vacuum shortly.

She asked if I had tried doing a very bad job of vacuuming and I said it was another weakness of mine, I just couldn't do a bad job on purpose. She paused for a while, then remarked, "I guess you probably call that 'integrity' instead of 'stupidity,' don't you?"

Is it Being Laid Back or Procrastinating

I live on an island. In this insulated atmosphere, many people are described as "laid back," which I take to mean the opposite of "hyper," or "wound too tight." If you are laid back, you tend to be more patient, accepting of others, and possessing something close to equanimity about others whom you encounter. In other words, in this case, the Dalai Lama's, to you "Each and every being wants/strives to be happy and to avoid suffering. In this fundamental way, all beings are equal." That may be a bit too lofty, but I think it is the logical extension of the feeling that comes over me here in this place. This is not the view held by some who visit, and even some who have lived here for years. Their perception is that things move too slowly and that there is no sense of urgency. People just find reasons to procrastinate on everything.

I can accept that fewer show the outward signs of urgency (the frown, the bent forward posture when walking forward—always briskly with the head down, or the car weaving in and out of traffic, etc.) in this place. I can also accept there are some who have nothing to do, but there are people like that everywhere. But joy gets people alive and moving, too. You can be driven by externals or drawn by what you feel inside of you. Capturing the latter seems more possible here. Procrastinating is, literally from the Latin pro + cras meaning "for tomorrow." Hence, it becomes leaving things for tomorrow. But, responding to today is not procrastinating. It's living in the present, which is literally all we have. As long as what we pursue in the present is not merely pleasure or gratification, then living for today is not procrastination, it's the pursuit of happiness. I'll take living "laid back" for one more day, I think.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yes, it's true. I have a birthday. Thankful to be around for one more. Getting over the flu this week has reminded me how important feeling good can be to making progress. Everything I usually initiate ground to a halt, and I just reacted to what came along. Not exactly living the life you imagined. Makes me marvel at those who struggle with chronic health challenges, and wonder how they cope. That takes me to where I want to be in another year.

I'm finding that progress for me can be measured around birthdays far more effectively than the passing of calendar years. You see, each calendar year measures the time of the planet earth or of civilization, not my time. On the other hand, each birthday I know my little window of opportunity has shortened by another year. It's probably why Tim Crowley's book, Younger Next Year, appealed to me so when I first ran across it. I have adopted a few of his recommendations, but have a long way to go in restoring myself physically. But I take courage from the fact that I get twice as much exercise and weigh 30 lbs. less than I did just two birthdays ago. But, I digress. In the coming year, I want to upgrade my level of exercise (to five days a week of aerobics and 4 for strength) and drop another 10 lbs. I also want to show up here and exercise my brain a whole lot more. That means writing twice a week, so let's get going.