#72: Do Not Burn Yourselves Out.

Beware of the invisible risk. It is out there. I have seen it first hand.

It is hard the first time, no easier the second.

One of my best friends got hit twice. He is suffering. So is his family.

I am struggling to deal with it myself. He is the kindest person you could possibly imagine.

Giving too much? Not taking enough?

I don’t know.

Edward Abbey’s quote feels right to me:

“One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am — a reluctant enthusiast….a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here.

So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators.

I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards.”

Do not focus on the bastards.

They don’t deserve your attention.

Or anyone else for that matter.

That won’t give you any hints.

Your signals come from inside.

For me it is sleep or the inability to get some.

Then it is the desire to do what gives me joy or such desire waning.

As you can tell, I am definitely on alert.

Trying to notice more.

All good for now.

Same for you?