Another Addition

First an update: The food Lent goals have been going well. No sweets, no red meats, no problem. Reading has been up and down. Non-fiction, piece of cake, fiction, not so much. I got a new baseball book in the mail yesterday- The Fielding Bible Volume II, with all new statistics, hit charts, and scouting reports. I don't know if I'll be reading anything else for the next week or so. Exercise- I've been mildly sick for the past two days so I haven't gone. Need to get back on that of course.

Let me add something else to my list. I had a good conversation with my brother yesterday, it's rare that we get to talk that long. The conversation actually started with me being dismissive on the phone, something that is all too common these days, at least from what I'm told. There's a pattern to all of this though, and it extends to my life off the phone as well. Let me explain.
I got on the train today and I was pissed because I couldn't sit down- don't these people know that I'm sick and need to sit? And then the train was going to slow, coming to a screeching, jolting stop every five seconds, throwing me off balance and making me even more annoyed. Doesn't the driver know that I don't have a seat and I'm carrying a whole bunch of stuff? And then I got off the train. As I was walking underground between Times Square and the Port Authority, I got pissed because there were SO many people. It's like that every morning, and there are days when I'm happy and in awe at the sheer mass of humanity contained in this city. But not today- today this sheer mass of humanity was forcing me to walk slow, crashing into me and my work bag, and yelling at me to change my heathen ways or be damned to eternal hellfire. Don't these people know that I have to get to work? And finally, I get to the elevator in my building; I'm almost home free. But then a crowd of people get on and press every single floor between the first floor and the 9th. Ugh! Don't these people know that I have important work to do, more important than theirs?
I can't help but smirk, thinking about how selfish my thoughts are. It's not that I'm intentionally dismissive on the phone; it's just that I'm selfish. It's supremely arrogant of course; I understand that. It's beyond conceited to believe, as I often do, that the place I have to be is more important, what I want to talk about is more interesting, and what I'm thinking is superior. So, let me add to my Lent list. I'll be less selfish in my interactions with others, less dismissive on the phone, more patient on the train, and more considerate in my thoughts. Instead of acting like Allen Iverson while I'm in a conversation; I'll try and get all of my points through the natural flow of the offense, such as it is. Just make sure you all have plenty of interesting things to say!

Til Next time,

Jojo