A Mystery of Life

Where on Earth did I put that thing? The question is posed in my mind, clueless as to where it is. Then, for no apparent reason, I go into the other room, and my eyes go to it.  I haven't really looked there, but my eyes see it.  This happens enough to generalize that it is not me, in an intentional, thoughtful way looking for whatever, it is me on a deeper level knowing where it is and going to it.

And it doesn't have to be seeing it.  A misplaced tablet was recovered when, for no apparent reason, I slid my hand into the gap between the armrest and seat cushion of my recliner chair. Or, my hand goes up involuntarily to the top of my head to locate my glasses which were, earlier, pushed up there and no longer even felt as being there.

Driving, late at night, in a downpour of rain in an area to which I had not been in years, I turned this way and that only to arrive at a recognized intersection that took me to my destination.  I didn't consciously decide to make those turns. Somewhere, deeper in my mind, there was memory of the area.

At the time of this occurrence, which was about 1958, St. Louis had more than 800,000 people in the city. Two friends of mine were in from out of town.  I knew they were somewhere downtown, the central business and shopping area, but I didn't have a clue where.  It was afternoon, I got on the Lee Avenue bus and rode it to downtown, got off and simply walked among the crowd of shoppers.  Voila! there they were.

There are occasions when we are made aware, as opposed to thinking through.  It also happens when we are with someone.  All of a sudden we are aware that something is off. We make an excuse to leave; when we don't the situation sours.

I am not proposing anything here, not analyzing.  I am reporting.  It's food for thought.

The Present Perfect

 

Every week on Sunday, I sit down and review where I am in my quest for results.  There is a variety of things that I'm pursuing and there is a variety of things for which I am responsible, all of which define my activities, at least the activities that I think need doing.  For whatever reason, I often get sidetracked during  the day.

I just finished that review for this week, and I took a good look at the details.  There were a few minor changes to be made to bring it into alignment with the current situation.  The revisions were slight and don't change my major trajectory, which is performing.  My entire "dream world" is that, and I am certain of it.  I am not, however, certain of success, only certain that I must work to achieve it.  The degree of success that I will achieve is uncertain.  Success is relative and ill-defined, it lives in the opinion of the achiever, but is colored by the opinions of others.

The present is the doorway in which we stand, the doorway to the future.  The past, which has happened, can't be changed.  It can, however, be selectively remembered.  And that is a way we have of protecting us from being daunted by setbacks and failures. 

Then there's the world between the present and the past, the world in which we live, the present perfect tense. It is concerned with what started in the past and continues in the present.  This is where we live, coping with what is going on, attempting to make it work out successfully for us.

That this definition, this concept, this tense, exists means that others have reached this realization.  I think I have had an intellectual understanding of the grammar, but now I have a philosophical understanding of it and I'm pleased about that.  It allows me to understand life and living more completely.  It also allows me to deal more rationally with what's going on around me.