Today was another gorgeous sunny day. However, since Labor Day our temperature has dropped into "fall-like". It just feels different. It seems windier and the air seems crispier if that's such a word. But I know that the days of warm weather are limited now, so I decided to get out there and enjoy this one. Didn't feel as great today personally, so cut the run short and did some biking to make up for the shorter distance. And what did I learn or take time to appreciate today? Choices.
I had choices today as to what form of activity to do. I'm lucky, I have a bike, I have an able body and I have the flexibility with my time to take advantage of the choices in my life. Sometimes however I don't know if choices are always good. Like when I'm walking down the cereal aisle at the grocery store. Does a person really need that many choices? Some people argue that limiting choices can be good. This comes up when people argue over the value of school uniforms. Some people say more choices leads to more competiton which leads to lower prices and better values for the consumer. So are choices good or bad?
I've come to learn that such polarized thinking (that something has to be on only one extreme or the other, in this case bad or good) isn't accurate. My reality is that there's alot in life that falls somewhere in between extremes and that trying to pigeon-hole everything into one category or the other is often devisive. Of course this seems especially relevant right now as the DNC just got over and the RNC is almost over. Politicians often play the polarization game and I don't like it. In fact, it makes me quite furious. And then it sucks me in and I start doing the same thing too. Of course some would argue that this behavioral tendency is compounded by the fact that we as the United States don't have very many choices when it comes to political parties. (Many other democratic nations typically have several parties, where ours statistically comes down to just two. And again, I don't think alot of the true middle ground is accurately represented.)
As is the case in politics and in other polarized venues, I think it's hard for people to see reality when they're clouded in stereotypes and labels. And during my bike ride today I was listening to a song by Ann Reed and there was a line that jumped out at me and made me go--Uh HUH! The line went: "You've got to learn how to hate and fear." ENCULTURATION! In my opinion, I don't think it's the number of choices but the awareness of how those choices are affecting us. And with that awareness make informed and honest choices based on reality not on the labels or stereotypes about those choices.
So in order to be more aware of my reality I decided to start with the inspiration for today's blog--my music. I noticed that I have a choice of 922 songs on my itouch playlist. That's alot. I'm sure many of my students have even more than that, but I would guess they're still like me in that I typically tend to listen only to "my favorites". So I decided to give every song a chance at least one more time. I am going to start at the beginning of the alphabetized playlist and try and get all the way through the 922 songs. Each time I go biking I will hopefully get through at least one letter of the alphabet. I want to take advantage of my choices instead of falling into old habits. So that's my reality check. How many songs are on your playlist?
R: 1.8 miles 16 1/2 min, W:1.5 B: 13 miles 1:05 C: light wind
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