I owe the title of this blog entry to William Shakespeare, who put those words in the mouth of King Richard III. Richard’s words were a metaphor for difficult times under the previous king rather than commentary on a polar vortex of the sort we’ve been experiencing in much of the U.S. this winter. For many in the States, this has been the coldest winter with the most ice and snow that we’ve had for several years.
Meanwhile, Melbourne, Australia, has been so hot that those playing tennis in the Australian Open have been wilting in the heat, and California is going dry and burning up from lack of rain and snow. Michigan has, of course, had cold, snowy winters in the past, and Australia has had hot Januarys before. Something seems different about this year’s climate extremes, however. I am not sure what about it seems different, but I understand enough about global climate to know that what’s happening in my home town doesn’t tell the whole story. Politicians who say that the global climate can’t be changing because it is cold in Washington, D.C., this winter need to get their heads out of their home towns and gain broader perspective by looking at global mean temperatures over time.
In failing to view the “big picture,” politicians are making the same basic error as those who fall for the “Shakespeare said” hoax. Shakespeare did not agree with everything every one of his characters said in the course of his plays. He put words in their mouths for dramatic purposes. Those who would quote “neither a borrower nor lender be” as an example of the wisdom of Polonius, need to read the play (“Hamlet”) for a sense of what Shakespeare was saying about him. Another quotation often used without consideration of the source is from Milton’s Paradise Lost: “The mind is its own place and in itself, can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.” Milton didn’t say that. One of his characters said it. That character was Satan. If you want to quote it, be sure to say, “As Milton’s Satan said….” It changes the meaning, of course, when you know that Satan is the one who thinks that. It may change it even more when you know that Satan changes his mind before the poem ends, and Milton also had Satan say that he could not escape hell because, “I myself am hell.”
Winter of Our Discontent Revisited
The snow, cold temperatures, and icy roads have continued in Michigan. The number of wrecks on the highway (see crash on I-94 near Michigan City for an example) demonstrate how easily people forget. It is not as though this is the first cold, snowy winter we’ve had in Michigan, but it’s the first one in a number of years, and it is easy to forget that winter driving requires different skills and strategies than driving on clear, dry pavement in summer.
Between going west on I-94 to St. Joseph, Michigan, to see Leah Ke for acupuncture and east on I-94 to Jackson, Michigan, to see Jenny Rymer, ND, (see Hearing and Health) I have spent quite a bit of time on I-94 this winter, and I can confirm that too many drivers take too many chances on icy roads. I have seen quite a few off the road in the median or the ditch along side the highway, and sometimes upside down. They will doubtless be even later than they anticipated getting to wherever they were going. It’s usually just a matter of planning and recognizing the reality of driving on icy roads.
Incremental Progress
My trips to St. Joe and Jackson have been a good investment for me, in spite of the challenges of highway driving. My hearing is definitely improving. It is not yet back to what might be considered normal, but it is better than it was. If you are “hearing challenged” or know someone who is, I suggest you try alternatives before resorting to hearing aids. My sense is that hearing aids, like surgery, ought to be the treatment of last resort—what you do when nothing else has worked. When you seek a practitioner of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), remember that they aren’t all equally skilled. Before I started seeing Leah Ke, I had seen a number of other acupuncturists, none of whom was as skilled as Leah. The same is true for DOs, DCs, and MDs—some are better than others, and even those who are really good, don’t all have the same skill sets. You may have to shop around to find one who can help you get the results you seek. I suggest starting with members of the International College of Integrative Medicine. Even with that membership, however, remember that you will find differences in interests and skills. Seek until you find….
Desire and Persistence
One of the rules of life seems to be that the combination of desire and effort produces results. Another rule seems to be that repeating a behavior that hasn’t worked in the past is unlikely to produce a different result. It may be that the behavior just needs a bit of “tweaking” to succeed (as in going to a different acupuncturist), or it may be that you need a completely different approach. How many times have we (in the States, at least) had a “war” on something only to have what we resist persist? In a war, we call the side the loses the least the “winner.” One side may surrender, but there are losses on both sides. When possible, seek solutions that avoid causing new problems. In recent years, for example, agriculture has been having a war on weeds and insects, using increasingly strong herbicides and pesticides to help increase crop yields.
The herbicides and pesticides have become so strong, that crops have needed to be genetically modified (GMO) to tolerate them. The weeds and insects, however, are learning to adapt to the herbicides and pesticides. It turns out that the weeds and the bugs can change faster than humans can change the weapons being used against them. Bees, however, are not doing so well and have been dying by the thousands. Those who have been studying the problem haven’t figured out why, and—to the best of my knowledge—they haven’t checked to see how bees do when they are in an environment free of the pesticides and herbicides.
One of the presuppositions of NLP is that if what you are doing isn’t working, do something else. Pay attention to the feedback you are getting from the environment after you act. As Byron Katie has said, “When you argue with reality, you lose—but only every time.” When you seek, you will find—but only if you pay attention to the feedback you receive along the way.
