Protons and Electrons

I'm getting old. At least older. It sucks. I forget things. I walk into rooms and by the time I get there I forget why I went in the first place. I lose my keys and various parts of my winter outerwear. I frantically look for my scarf only to realize it's on my neck. But, sometimes, out of the mental murk, come random facts - at least I thought for a long time they were random. Now, I think they're my subconscious throwing crap at me saying "Hel-lo! Let's go already!"

Today, as I sat to write in my blog, in yet another attempt to make this habitual, I thought about what to write. And from the depths of my delusion came this: proton, electron. What?! I'm 28 (nearly 29) and despite my high school dedication to science (and a promise to my physics teacher to continue it), I haven't taken a serious science course in *gulp* almost a decade. Where did this come from?! As I have accepted the challenge (somewhat begrudgingly) of wrestling with the pests that populate my psyche I had to ask what this was, what it meant. So, thinking back, and digging through the mental cobwebs, I recall that protons are positively charged and reside in nucleus. Electrons are negatively charged and circle the nucleus. OK, so still....What the hell?!

Giving myself a moment before I call the medical officer and ask for some nice pills, I realize that it makes sense. Well, at least to me. See, the core is positive and all the crap circling it can be negative, but it's still positive. Granted, generally, this all balances out to neutrality - like some kind of atomic Valium - but the image I delivered to myself (thanks, self!) was that the core is positive. Duh.

There's this song/"commencement speech" that has been around for awhile. I recalled that today too (self, you rock!) . It's sort of cheesy-inspirational, but hell, at some point who's to decline inspiration?! The following lines catch me today:

• Do one thing every day that scares you.
• Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.
• Don't waste your time on jealousy.
• Remember compliments you receive.
• Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life.
• Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.
• Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on.
  

I need to work on a few of these, and a few of the others too.
My protons need a lot of work, but they're still my center.

*Link above is to the text mentioned and two very worthy parodies.*