Hello 2024, goodbye 2023. To be honest I am glad 2023 is behind me, it was not a great year for several reasons. However, I am healthy and I’m doing OK.
2024 is not looking too much brighter in my industry or my company. So much uncertainty. Humans hate not knowing their future, in fact, it’s a bit frightening. When I say future, I mean employment and general outlook.
No one can predict the future, but for the most part, we expect business as usual. So, uncertainty scares us, or at least makes us uncomfortable. After all, in the past few years, inflation went crazy and now, regardless of what some news outlets tell you, we’re paying more for gas and groceries than we did 4 years ago. I don’t care who you blame, that’s what I see.
All the same, we have it pretty good. That brings me to today’s quote. Again, from Marcus Aurelius’s “Meditations“;
“Indifference to external events. And a commitment to justice in your own acts. Which means thought and action resulting in the common good. What you were born to do.”
The way I interpret this is “ignore all the bullshit and stay on track for what you were meant to do, paid to do, or want to do”. I spent way too much time the past 2 years worried about crap that I have no control over.
To be honest, I don’t know what I was born to do, maybe I haven’t found it yet. That worries me because I turn 60 this year.
I know that most people don’t care what I think. I have had people complain about my tech blogs, so I just take it down and make mental notes. Sure, it bothers me, but then I think if I wrote something that they read and went to all the trouble to complain about, it must have been good. Even if I have to pull it, I know people are paying attention.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to offend anyone, but some people need to be called out if it’s justified. If they don’t like it, then perhaps they need to ask questions instead of just saying “remove that post sir!” So if they do that to me, Godspeed!
All the same, I need to focus on what matters the most. To me it’s family, learning, and teaching. When I worry about all the other crap I can’t control, I lose focus on what matters.
We will never run out of distractions. They’re everywhere disguised as good advice, news, politics, financial woes, and enemies of the state. So when you look at all of this, ask yourself, “what can I do about it?” Are you committed to make it happen?
I don’t know any politicians, they just don’t care what I think, but they do want my vote. If I asked them for a favor or to help on an issue, what would they want in return?
I can’t close the borders myself, and I don’t know where to start.
I don’t have any billionaire friends, and even if I did, what could I ask them to do? I am pretty sure they have their own agenda.
I can’t stop the Ukraine war. I can’t stop the Gaza war. I can’t stop the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. I don’t even know how to help all the people dying in Africa trying to mine lithium battery stuff.
I am pretty worthless in all the above events. Sure, I care, but I feel there is little I can do outside of voting next year. At least I haven’t figured out how to help except by making people aware.
So I’ll focus on what I can do, here, now, and ahead in 2024. At least until I read another captivating story.