This is going to be a particularly short entry, as I have to leave for the airport in about six hours and I haven't gotten to bed yet. Anybody who thinks business travel is a good thing has not done much of it.
Anyway, I have once again agreed to do something, after carefully thinking it over for a couple of days, and then gone into a minor panic of second guessing myself afterwards. I know it will be okay, but this is my typical reaction to things I haven't done before. I'm sure it comes from all of the times my mother has lectured me on things being harder than I think they are. Even if I don't act on her brand of fearfulness, I've obviously internalized some of it. I understand this perfectly well, but it still annoys me. I'm going to go ahead with this new effort (which is, by the way, serving on the 25th reunion gift committee for my M.I.T. class) on the grounds that doing things I haven't done before is always good for me.
I like challenge and I am not my mother.
Along similar lines (though relating to something I have done before), I've set myself a target for taking another sabbatical. I'm figuring on 3-6 months in late 2006, to be spent meandering Central and South America. The main thing for now is getting rid of things that I won't want to store (more motivation for decluttering). I also need to learn a lot more Spanish.
Copyright 2004 Miriam H. Nadel