What is the difference between "quit" and "resign?"

To quit. To resign. We all do them and often under similar, but different, conditions. Not only in the job market sense of the word, really, though I am sure there are similarities.

Quitting a job has the feeling of leaving employment without good feelings toward the employer, while resigning a job, though the reasons for departure might be the same, connotes some moderation of the negative feelings, even if kept inside. Many of us are familiar with that; we have all quit and/or resigned. Job security, pay, compensation or benefits, family- or health-related are all reasons for leaving one job going to another.

This thought is much larger than a job or career. It can be a reason for leaving work, but it really relates to the internal feelings one can develop when the external stimuli become almost overwhelmingly difficult or incomprehensible.

Quitting life in certain ways short of death. Resignation of ones spirit.

These can happen for many reasons, but this thought of mine relates to what has been happening in our world for the past couple of years. We have witnessed a disturbing increase in violent behavior in parts of the world, overt political corruption in others, and a seeming departure from civility among some of the world leaders.

Eight years ago the United States did something few, if any, people thought was possible. They elected an African-American president. Many thought this was a step in the direction of unify and reducing the impact of deeply-held racist feelings that affect pretty much everything that happens in that country. On the other hand, many also saw it as an abhorrent result of an election that insulted people of a certain race.

The stress only increased for the next eight years. Political differences and decisions, ways of communicating or not communicating with segments of society increased the chasm between the races and between the political opinions. Then the voters did something nobody expected, including the winner.

They elected an narcissistic, self-centered, thin-skinned, billionaire TV reality star non-politician as their next president. And the stress increased as the racial and political divisions became more stark, pronounced, and overt. What used to be private or quietly shared among like-minded people now jumped onto the big screen. People felt no remorse when badmouthing "them" or when violently, physically assaulting "them" merely because they did not believe like "we" do.

Us. Them. Yes. No. Black. White. All. None.

What the world has come to be; segregated by politics, by nationalism, by racialism, by materialism.

In short, by any and all man-made boxes.

For me, the stress has almost become unbearable. I struggle with conflicting feelings. I deeply believe in the oneness of mankind as the pivot around which unity of the world's peoples must revolve. Yet I also am unsure how to get there, whether my yet unborn granddaughter and her own siblings and cousins will live to see it.

Makes me want to quit. Just to get away from all this. To stop. To get into a place of comfortable misery, I guess. I have already cut way back on reading social media posts. I do not read much news. I long ago stopped watching broadcast television, so I do not watch any news program, cable or otherwise.

In short, I try to focus on things that will not damage my already-injured psyche anymore.

I am not always successful and it makes me just want to quit. Not resign, with the feelings of moderating negatives. Just quit. Cold.

I just want the madness to stop.

You have 30 days left to live. What would you do?

I read an article on Medium this morning. The author wrote about choices made and regrets held. Making choices at an early age can seem easier and less results-oriented and some of those choices can lead to regrets later in life.

Reading the article led me to ask "What would you do if you only had 30 days left to live?"

It is not as macabre as it sounds and does not mean one should plan every minute of every day for the rest of ones life. Perhaps many people would answer the question with things like these, which we have all heard almost ad nauseam - thank you, Hollywood script writers:

• I would quit my job.
• I would travel as much as I could. 
• I would visit my children, grandchildren, parents, college or high school buddies. 
• I would stop paying my debts and spend the money working on my hobby.
• I would...

While those are all well and good, to me they have a desperate sound of a person who has not lived a life so far and now wants to make up for it by cramming "activities" into a 30-day period. I wonder why.

For me the answer to the question is pretty simple: I would not do much different than I do now.

I have done pretty much everything I ever wanted to do in life...except fly helicopters for the tuna fleet. I have owned and raised an Old English Sheepdog, been married, been a firefighter and a paramedic. I have driven an 18-wheeler and a taxi. I owned a boat, and flew aircraft of all kinds for a living.

I have traveled to every state in the United States and several of the non-state territories like Puerto Rico. I lived in a bunch of those states and several foreign countries. I went to elementary and high schools in four countries, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and the USA.

I fought a war in the rice paddies and rivers of a faraway country and returned home in one piece but not so much in peace.

I bought fish off a commercial fishing boat in Homer, Alaska. I swam with sharks in San Diego Harbor, and I saw Janis Joplin and the Moody Blues in concert. I attended one of Buddy Rich's concerts on stage not long before his death.

In short, I have done almost everything I ever wanted to do and then some. My childhood dreams have all been met.

Have yours?

If one tries to jam a bunch of activities into the last 30 days of life, I am sure the end result will not be one of happiness, but one of deep regret for not having done some of the activities earlier in life.

So, if you do learn you have only 30 days left to live, well, simply live each day as if you have 30 days to live and you will have a happy life. Do otherwise and you will be a sad being, regretting the things you did not do and blaming someone or something for not having done them. Those last 30 days will be filled with angst, remorse, anger, frustration...and probably a lot of other negative feelings.

Start now.

Live.

Random musings

We are about two weeks into the new administration in the United States and what a tumultuous time it has been. Protests, marches, even school children in New York City ditching classes en masse to protest the confirmation of an entirely-unqualified billionaire, Betsy DeVos, to head up the U.S. Department of Education. She was probably put there by Trump to dismantle the Department my father worked for so long; I do not have respect for either of those people.

I have been working diligently on my genealogy blog and notice the readership has increased slowly. I have nowhere near the thousands or more that read many blogs, but increased numbers was never the goal. Hopefully, at least one new reader working on his or her own family tree will glean some helpful hints on the journey.

My last W2 form came today, so I will work on finalizing 2016 taxes and get it out of here. I feel just a bit that this will be a final cap for what was, for me, a truly miserable year, and not only in the political sense, though that certainly contributed. I spent the year driving the truck, really pushing myself to make money to cut some of these bills I have down to size. I think it worked, but it also took a big chunk out of my life-energy. I want this year to be more relaxed and enjoyable.

I have also volunteered to be a transcriber for Baha'i Center web talks. So far, I have done one, and it was a good one. It was by Annette Reynolds, a South Carolina Baha'i. She spoke of what we used to call the "mass teaching" efforts there and the lessons learned from those efforts in a highly racially segregated state. This will prove to be a valuable, educational exercise for me, I hope.