Leon Konieczny’s Blog

I’ve been thinking…. I complain a lot about the prolonged heat in the summer. Yes, it does get on me, the constant high of 95 and low of 75 with little variation, and never even belwo 70 at night all summer long. In most years there are also the frequent afternoon showers, though they seem to be somewhat lacking this year. Still, I think I complain too much.

In a few months, it’ll be cooler again, and the people “up north” will be shivvering and trying to stay warm while I lolligag in the mild temperatures.  So I figure I need to complain a bit less about the summer heat–I chose to live here, so I have to pay the price for the great winters.

Now, maybe when I retire I can spend my summers “up north” or at least in the mountains somewhere, a place where the summers are a bit cooler and a bit more varied. I’d like that. But in the meantime, I may as well make the best of what I have. And, we always have the anticipation of a tropical event to break the monotony. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not–I guess it depends on whether or not that “tropical event” becomes a bad hurricane, or just is some rainy and we weather.

No matter, Florida is still a great place to live, as evidenced by the droves of people who move here every day. Just a little bit of paradise, and I plan to spend more time enjoying it, and less time complaining about it! Amen.

Apparently the person in line ahead of me at the express checkout lane at Publix was not able to. Or, perhaps she didn’t care, and thought she was too good too have to wait in a regular line with her 15 or so items. Or perhaps she was just a real egotist who does not care about others.

I think that Publix should enforce the express lane restrictions, and either charge a premium for each item over 10, or announce it over the loudspeaker–“another one who can’t count is in the express lane””–or just refuse to let them purchase any item over 10.

This is only an indication (another one if you’ve been reading my blog) of the “me”-centric mentality that’s become all to pervasive in society today. Me first. I’m important. It’s all about me. Sheesh!  Get a grip, people, it’s not about you….

If you think this blog is about you, then you need to think on these things…..

What does it mean to be authentic? It means to be who you are and accepting it, while putting others first and realizing that you alone are not the center of the universe. It means to not put on airs, to be honest, to look at life from the 10,000 foot view. It means to be honest with yourself. It probably also means to let the little annoyances in life slide past without notice, focusing on the big picture.

It sure can be annoying when people around you focus on little things, pick at each other, engage in “I’m better than you” contests, talk about others behind their back, and the like. Or then there’s the “poor me” mentality that some people adopt, feeling like all things that happen in life are directed towards them in some negative fashion, even when the events may be far away and have no link to them at all. You know, I really don’t have the time and energy in my life to put up with that sort of negative energy. I don’t think any of us should.
I guess it’s a “me” thing at times, too.  I get so tired of people that are focused on themselves that they fail to look at the big picture. They fail to focus on the 10,000 foot view of life. If the focus of a person’s life is only themself and/or their own little world, then what are they contributing to society?  Are they making the world a better place?  Are they going to leave behind a better world when they pass on?  I don’t know–perhaps they are in some small manner, but that’s probably a by-product of their life, an afterthought. But I do know that being authentic–being yourself and focusing on the big picture and trying in some small manner to make the world a better place is a good thing, and that is what it takes to be authentic.

So, the next time I hear someone engaging in me-focused talk, I’m just going to tune out and keep in mind what’s important in life to me. They can feel free to focus on what gives them inward personal (and mostly selfish) satisfaction, I’ll continue to try to look at the big picture in life, to focus on more than myself, and to try to maintain a 10,000 foot view of life.

Hmm….isn’t that what lots of religions teach us, anyhow?

I am reminded the importance of being prepared for important–but sometimes unpredictable–events that can happen in life.

An Orlando police officer, attempting to stop a car, was run over and killed last week. Certainly a tragic event, and my heart goes out to his family. But I heard his wife on TV shortly after he was removed from life support. She said that they realized the dangers of his job, but it was a job he loved. They had extensively discussed the “what if” such a job brings, and they had discussed how to handle his untimely death if it should happen. Unfortunately, it did happen. But they had planned for it, they were prepared. This may not alleviate any grief, but sure did make it easier on his wife to “pull the plug” when it was known there was no chance of recovery, and made it easier for her and his family to deal with his untimely death.

Of course, my question to myself is “am I prepared?” I have to admit my answer is no. But this tragic event is a chance for me to learn and to get prepared. I need to do that. I hope you’ve already done it!

I hear a lot of “me” talk all around me at work. Me. What I’ve done. What’ I’m doing. What I’m going to do. “I’m going fishing this weekend.” “I’m going to play golf.” “My kids did this.” “I did this.” “We did that.” Me, me, me.

But, once in a while, I hear some “our” talk, and I heard some this week. I asked a coworker what he did over the weekend (of course opening the door for “me” talk), and heard quite the story: about what his church and neighbor churches had done. It seems that there’s a need here in Seminole County to help kids get the school supplies they need. Even in this somewhat well-do-do area, there are families that struggle, parents that can’t afford backpacks, notebooks, and the like for their kids. So this guy’s church and neighbor churches all got together and solicited donations for school supplies. They handed out well over 1500 backpacks filled with school supplies last weekend. They had a somewhat festive, carnival-like atmosphere with food and games, even. Talk about really making a contribution to the community.

In all the conversation with this coworker, we’ll call him Bob, not once did I hear about what Bob had done. It was all “we” and “our church” and the like. I have no idea if Bob handed out backpacks, or grilled burgers, or emptied the trash. It was not a “me” event to Bob, it was “us.” It was “our church” and “our group.”

So here we have an everyday “real” person. Not focused on himself. Rather, focused on helping others. Isn’t that the way life is supposed to be led? So for all the “me” talk I hear all the time, well, if you think I’m listening and really care, you’re wrong. I’m looking for the “us” and “they” talk, for the substantive things that people do with their lives, not the self-centered, self-serving everday things a person does to feed their own ego. I’m looking for those who help others, and those are the people who really matter in life, those who help others…..

I was reading something about history someone posted to the history and genealogy group I’m a part of. He was talking about Germany as a country, and pointed out that, before 1871, there was no country of Germany.  Then I think of Poland. At 1871, there was no Poland, but many years before it was a large and grand country, very powerful in Europe. Then I start thinking about today. I’ve lived 54 years, and even in that time the world has changed a little. A few countries have come and gone. Some borders have changed. As a kid, I studied about the USSR. What is it now, something like 15 or so different countries?

And so, that brings me to my point.  It’s so easy to take the short view of things, but that is really not valid. The long view of things is what really counts. I heard someone on the radio talking about hurricanes today. Wow, the strong hurricanes we’ve had in recent years, and so many. Yet, truth be told, many years ago they did not have the sophisticated, detailed way of measuring these storms that we have today. Probably many a storm was born and died years ago with no one even knowing about it.

History really needs to be viewed from afar, not from today. We are unable to stand back far enough to appreciate where in history we are today. That will only come many years from now, when we gain a proper perspective. Of course, then it will be too late to help us make decisions we have to make today. What a dilemma, huh? I guess all we can do today is the best we can, and stay away from superlatives and absolutes–unless we want the view of history to topple our myopic view of things with the truth of perspective.

Why is it that I look forward to Friday so much? Well, it’s the “end” of the work week. It’s too bad that work is such that the “light at the end of the tunnel” is the end of work–or at least a break from it. But that’s what the weekends are for many, many people.

When I was a kid, watching George Jetson, the vision of the future was one where machines made our lives so much easier and simpler, and gave us a lot more time, leisure time. That has not proved to be the case. I think we work harder than ever. Yes, in a way, we have a lot more “things” to show for it, but the really important things have been there all along, and in many cases, are fast disappearing. I’m talking about the out doors. Nature. The sky. Lakes. Streams. I’m talking about the quiet areas where, in days past, a person could go to just be and not have to take along a zillion gadgets.

I guess, in some part, camping can still take a person back to that era, and god knows I have not done much camping in the last number of years. I guess that should be one of my resolutions….to get back to nature, however I can. Maybe then, in some little way, I can escape the work “rat race” and escape the “Friday frenzy” that seems to go with it!

I live in central Florida. So, this time of year, the weather is always on my mind. Yes, I’m a weather junkie. I have a weather station and I post my weather on the Internet here: http://www.leonkonieczny.com/weathertop.htm.  I also feed my weather data to Weather Underground (http://www.weatherunderground.com), so if you search for the weather in my zip code, you find my data is what they give you. And, they maintain my historical data, too.

But during the late summer and early fall months, my thoughts turn to hurricane preparedness. We went through three hurricanes in 2004, Charley, Frances, and Jeanne. I lost power for 1-2 days in each of them.  But this year, I’m better prepared. I have a generator!  If I ever do need to use it, I’ll consider it a great investment. Now, stockpiling the gas for it may take a bit given today’s gas prices (near $2.90 a gallon, I think, and rising), but gas is still cheaper than rum or vodka!  I have extra bottled water on hand, and have most everything I need, should a hurricane threaten. So, I do have somewhat of a sense of weather security–just in case. Best to be prepared!

I’ve been involved in genealogy for about seven years now. I’ve always been somewhat interested in my roots. I remember asking my grandparents questions about where they came from, what life was like, etc. I sure wish I had taken notes, as I’m sure I’ve forgotten a lot of it. Still, I do have a sense of “where I’m from,” so to speak. And a great respect for what my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents went through in the past to get me to where I am today.

The one thing that really propelled me into a more formal search for roots was a series of family tree charts that my Mom’s cousin, Sonja, prepared for my grandparents’ 50th wedding anniversary, way back in 1969. I used that data to begin my family tree.

 Now, over the years, I have “met” a few extended family members and relatives of relatives via the Internet. And I’ve become involved in a great group of people called the “History Buffs”–we all have roots in some way to Clark County, WI, and spend a lot of time on our web site posting information, pictures, documents, obituaries, tombstone photos, family information, history, and the like. It is a great group and working with it helps me appreciate and stay in touch with my roots and only increases my respect and admiration for all my ancestors went through. 

Perhaps this is more fitting for a memoria day post, but then again, I think we should always respect our ancestors and remember them constantly.