[at-l] Re: Determination

[greyowl at rcn.com (greyowl@rcn.com)]

Determination

I apologize to the list with my somewhat flippant statement 
about determination.  This has been a hell of a week for me; 
my boss is on travel and left me in charge (not a good move 
on his part).  Needless to say chaos rains.  It is difficult to 
get my thoughts together.  There are a number of ways of 
performing a given task, the ?tight way?, the ?wrong way? and 
the government way.  At this rate I will become a 
professional drinker by tomorrow.

Determination is a good thing especially if one knows their 
own limitations.  Learning to walk or ride a bike takes 
determination, but one does not necessarily make minor 
changes to accomplish the task, one just needs to practice 
and practice and let the involuntary nerves and muscle 
response take over.  One of my research projects involves 
the use of an enzyme process patented in 1903 and has been 
studied extensively, at our center since 1958.  The project is 
mandated by congress and the pressure is on me to produce 
positive results.  Well in those hundred years no one has 
been able to increase the efficiency of the process and thus 
industry is not interested in use the process.  It is flogging a 
dead horse and the project should have died quietly years 
ago.  This is a prime example of stupidity, doing the same 
thing over and over and expecting different results.

I think that all of the arguments made on the list are 
interesting, but they do not go to the question.  If I remember 
the question correctly the person wanted to know how to 
maintain his determination to complete a task.  My answer is 
simply If one cannot maintain ones determination to 
accomplish a task then one should not perform the task 
(Unless, of course he/she are paid to perform the task).

Me, one more day of being boss, and then I will some hiking 
this weekend.  The wild flowers are out and I plant to hike 
only a few miles, but take a lot of pictures.  I have just 
purchased a Canon PowerShot A510 and I am learning how 
to use it.

Grey Owl