Mags, 40, is an Irish woman who lives in New Jersey and leads the state's conservation agency. She is an environmentalist, political activist, triathlete and book collector (bio and pic by Q). If you live your life for someone else's approval, you're not living your life and you're not going to get approval.
I envy selfish people and people who are certain. I worry too much to have certainty and empathize too much to be truly selfish. Although I am working on being selfish - it's my current self-improvement project!
Getting ahead is about timing - being in the right place at the right time having laid the right foundation in preparation for that timing.
Money is the root of all evil. In any and all situations that elicit a painful wail of "Why?" from a puzzled populace, the answer generally lies at the end of the money trail.
My genes dictate that I am prompt, organized and ever so slightly anal. I've lost the fight with my genes and have surrendered to my promptness, organization and anal nature! I am turning into my mother and I no longer mind.
I envy selfish people and people who are certain. I worry too much to have certainty and empathize too much to be truly selfish. Although I am working on being selfish - it's my current self-improvement project!
Getting ahead is about timing - being in the right place at the right time having laid the right foundation in preparation for that timing.
Money is the root of all evil. In any and all situations that elicit a painful wail of "Why?" from a puzzled populace, the answer generally lies at the end of the money trail.
My genes dictate that I am prompt, organized and ever so slightly anal. I've lost the fight with my genes and have surrendered to my promptness, organization and anal nature! I am turning into my mother and I no longer mind.
It is impossible to be good, to be truly good and think good thoughts and do good all the time…you need to cut yourself some slack every now and again.
Animals are much cleverer in certain ways than humans. Birds can navigate 3,000-mile migration paths year in and year out, timing their arrivals with emergent food sources and their departures with the tiniest temperature trend changes. They don't have compasses or thermometers or maps. Snakes will take the shortest route, a straight line, between their hibernacula and their traditional breeding areas and they don't have GPS to help them.
I don't think humans are inherently bad, but I do think that a few bad humans give the rest of us a reputation we don't deserve and mess things up royally for those of us who seek to tread lightly on this planet. I think a lot of people believe in god because they can't believe in humanity. I think if we could all seek and find our reward in this life, rather than expecting it in the next, the world would be a much better place in a much better state.
Animals are much cleverer in certain ways than humans. Birds can navigate 3,000-mile migration paths year in and year out, timing their arrivals with emergent food sources and their departures with the tiniest temperature trend changes. They don't have compasses or thermometers or maps. Snakes will take the shortest route, a straight line, between their hibernacula and their traditional breeding areas and they don't have GPS to help them.
I don't think humans are inherently bad, but I do think that a few bad humans give the rest of us a reputation we don't deserve and mess things up royally for those of us who seek to tread lightly on this planet. I think a lot of people believe in god because they can't believe in humanity. I think if we could all seek and find our reward in this life, rather than expecting it in the next, the world would be a much better place in a much better state.
When I am being strong and assertive, I think people think that I'm being bitchy. If I was a man being strong and assertive would they consider me macho? Sometimes I have to flirt to get what I want in work…in fact I just flirted my way into a $15,000 sponsorship deal for my big fundraiser. It annoys me that men don't have to flirt!
I think books are the best things about being alive. I think I prefer books to anything in the entire world and if I was to be stranded on a desert island and they offered me a choice between company or books, I would take books every time.
Finally, I get happier as I get older and I remain surprised at that fact and annoyed that nobody told me that was going to happen. Or maybe they did once and I just didn't believe it then!
Auld Dog is an intermittent column on this blog that provides the pearls of wisdom of an individual for the rest of us to ponder. If you would like to be an Auld Dog, send 600 - 700 words to auld.dog@gmail.com along with a bio and picture (or I'll do them) and I'll post it here.
No comments:
Post a Comment