Performance

No doubt you've heard the statement "if 99.9% was good enough. Here's another look from a medical professional, The Independent Urologist. Something to think about as we stuggle to succeed. The pessimist in me says I fail more often than that. On the other hand, how does one define success or failure in situations without obvious endpoints? Then there is this question: "If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?" Either way, it's a deep philosophical question. Thus we are left with doing our best and hoping it's enough.

That is the essence of parenting. Each child is different. My children have some of the same issues and personality traits I had as a child, but what would have worked for me does not work for them. Sometimes I feel at a loss as to how to handle a situation, and I know every parent faces that. All I can do is what I think is best at that moment, and learn from it if the strategy fails. What bothers me the most is the helpless feeling I get because they're kids, and they look to me for guidance and I'm failing them somehow. They don't have the same ability to think as we do, taking things a day at a time rather than taking the long view. FWIW, I remember having the same point of view as a kid, only learning this lesson slowly over many, many years, even into adulthood; and I'm still learning it. Perhaps I am not failing, just not succeeding as I would like. Oh well, enough of the self=flagellation....

Right now, I am listening to a television program on airline safety. While it does fit in with the above comments (given airline travel is safer than traveling by car), I just heard the narrator say, "There are too many near misses." Well, in my opinion (and that of the late George Carlin), a near miss is a hit. "That plane nearly missed us." I agree with Carlin the phrase should be "near hit." makes more sense, and is better English to boot.