Enjoying the juxtaposition of contradictions

Do you ever feel that life is full of contradictions?

Should I pay attention to details or not sweat the small stuff? Do I put myself or others first? Should I take time for reflection or never look back? Do I live a life with no regrets or learn to live with regrets? Have you ever noticed that birds of a feather flock together, yet opposites attract?

Of course oxymorons routinely populate our daily lives. Have you ever been awfully good at something? Maybe you’ve been alone together with someone? Have you ever had a bittersweet experience? If you listen, you can hear a deafening silence or perhaps a dull roar. I once took out some jumbo shrimp to thaw only to discover it was freezer burned.

You can find contradictory advice on just about anything in life. You’ve undoubtedly heard that practice makes perfect. Yet Albert Einstein famously said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome each time.

The thing is, the best advice is whatever is applicable to the moment. In general, it’s best to put others before yourself. But if you’re sick or hurting, you need to take care of yourself first.

And I have to admit that the analogy with Einstein is a bad one. Practice may be repetitive, but the nuances of each repetition are slightly different and aid in perfection of a skill and developing muscle memory. Still, if you’re throwing a ball at the same target 100 times a day, it may seem like insanity or at least boredom. It all depends on your mental attitude.

One piece of advice I have yet to see contradicted is that attitude is everything. As the late, great Zig Ziglar said, “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.” We can’t control what happens to us, but we can control how we respond to it.

This weekend I will be in Goliad with my comrades from the Texas Army re-enacting the Battle of Coleto Creek and the Goliad Massacre. This is a very busy time of year for us as we travel to different locations re-enacting the various battles and events of the 1835-36 Texas Revolution on their respective anniversaries and locations.

We do this for many reasons, but primarily to help keep history alive for future generations. This is a big look back, not ahead, yet we do it with the future in mind. We need future generations to remember the Alamo, remember where they came from and how we got to where we are today.

I do believe you need to plan for the future, live in the moment, and respect the past. We need reflection and an accurate understanding of history in order to learn from our mistakes, build on our successes, and be able to move forward. Otherwise, Einstein’s axiom about insanity will be painfully true and we will be doomed to repeat history.

For me, history is fascinating. I love seeing how we have evolved and adapted to meet the various needs and challenges across time. It blows my mind that it only took only 66 years from the first powered flight to having a man walk on the moon. I’d say that the ability for humans to fly is the greatest things since sliced bread, but humans were flying for 25 years before we started slicing bread.

In my lifetime I’ve gone from a party line to cell phone. I’ve seen television screens explode in size and flatten out. Food can be cooked in minutes. Heck, I can talk to someone on the other side of the world with words traveling faster than the speed of sound! I’ve seen computers go from room-sized monstrosities to devices smaller than a deck of cards that I carry in my pocket.

Speaking of smart phones, have you ever noticed how they have dumbed us down? Instant access to information and entertainment has made people more reliant on technology and less adept at using their brains. And people do some really dumb things with smart phones, like texting and driving.

Living with so many rapid technological changes I guess it is inevitable that contradictions will continue to arise. As I head home at the end of the day I can drive on the parkway and park in my driveway. Shoot, it’s no wonder we’re so confused with so much contradiction in our lives. But it’s a good life and I don’t regret it.

(Joe Southern is the managing editor of the Wharton Journal-Spectator and East Bernard Express. He can be reached at news@journal-spectator.com.)