To Do lists

I am an unapologetic list maker. I get a very real, extremely over-inflated sense of accomplishment of checking off task completed, drawing lines through work made unnecessary, and, once done, X-ing out the priority tasks that have been circled and starred. I have been guilty of adding items already done to the list, just so I can check a few more things off.

Monday my list ran about ten items long, starting with going to work and finishing with "TRASH NITE" in all caps and a circled several times, so I wouldn't miss taking out the garbage. Unfortunately, those two task were the only items that got the ever-popular check mark. So Tuesday, my list consisted of a single task: "ACTUALLY CARE". However, I could not, in good faith, apply the check next to that imperative, as I didn't get any of Monday's remaining items done again. Today, I honestly should be putting a big minus next to it. Tomorrow I'm going to make an attempt to at least recover the minus.

Empowerment

We empower oursevles simply by making choices. The more informed the choice, the more empowerment is obtained. Unfortunately, something so simple, and (I think) so obvious, is all to often also so easily ignored--or even outright denied.

What is most counter-intuitive about empowerment is that there is no neutral ground. If a person is not empowering themselves through their choices, they are empowering others by the absence of their choice. There's no middle ground, and it doesn't require others to choose at any different rate, or different level of information either. Think of it as "social entropy" and if you aren't fighting it, it's gaining ground on you.