Challenged

Coupled with a desire to be different – to do different things and have varied experiences – I need to surround myself with people who have both of those characteristics. Too many times I am in maintenance mode and am not challenged and stretched to do new things or to sink energy into those pursuits that I am even marginally committed to. For example, without the prompting of my friend Alan I probably would not have gotten my telescope out to watch the transit of Venus across the Sun. It was an awesome sight. It will happen again in 2012, but who knows whether I am going to be around to see that again. He is also prompting me to get up at 4:00 a.m. tomorrow morning to catch a glimpse of a comet that has suddenly become bright enough to see in the early morning sky. I could probably snap some pictures of it with the digital camera we bought last year and stack the frames to have it come into a more pronounced focus.

Without him and his desire to push the bounds (of common sense sometimes) and his desire speaking to mine about these things, where would I be? I need to, in ever increasing measure, immerse myself in situations where iron sharpens iron. The kick in the pants I need can’t come hard enough and often enough sometimes for me.