Welcome, stressor

Ryan Walsh 🟢

Nov 02, 2024

(2 min read)

Photo of an attractive bald man playing acoustic guitar. He's wearing a well-fitting untucked blue t-shirt and black shorts. The man has a basic bright neon green sphere instead of a head. There is no face.

Well, I didn’t achieve my goal of publishing an issue every Tue and Sat of 2024.

When I stopped, I considered stopping for good.

I had an inspiring call with

Keva Epale

, though. She encouraged me to take breaks when necessary but to never quit.

It reminds me of a time when I was a kid and my dad’s boss / friend came to our house and played some guitar.

I was amazed at how good he was. I’d never known anyone who could play.

I asked how he got so good.

He said:

“Oh that’s simple. I just never stopped playing. If you just never stop, you can get really good at anything.”

So, I don’t want to just disappear.

I doubt I’ll resume my Tue/Sat cadence, but I’ll keep this newsletter on my mind and see what I can make of it.

By the way, tech layoffs keep happening, and I’m available for my next position as a lead software engineer. If you want to wish me well, write a comment or give a 👍, especially here on my LinkedIn post. It helps so much! 🙏

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗺𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸, 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 share that post with them.

Thanks for helping me find my next team! ❤️

https://ryancwalsh.com/lead-software-engineer

An assortment of thoughts that have been on my mind

Bob Marley said some people are so poor that all they have is money. Are you getting obsessed with net worth? Why not self worth?
Jeff Warren asked: What would it be possible to do less of or let go entirely? As you free yourself and make space, you can then be more present and commit more to what really matters.
Deepak Chopra said that nothing gets destroyed. Everything gets recycled. All cells in our body. All atoms in the universe. Why wouldn’t consciousness get recycled too? If not, it would be the only exception. Maybe it gets fragmented unrecognizably. But its parts survive?
“Now” is the only time I’ll ever be able to appreciate anything.
All I really want to do is be in a good mood.
I have enough air, water, food, and shelter. What if there were nothing I needed to do, at least for a moment? Can I let myself feel content for just this one moment and let that feel enough too?
Turn towards what you’re trying to escape.
Be friendlier to what you’ve been resisting.
When you welcome even what is unpleasant, you can’t suffer.
Instead of avoiding, escaping, or resisting the stressor, invite yourself to soften around it, enveloping it welcomingly. YOU are in control of you (and not much else). You can be like water.
Choose your mood carefully. Your life depends on it.
Why do you so look forward to the future when you know that all the pleasures of your past have been fleeting and you haven’t been appreciating the present?
Contentment > Wanting… What you have is enough. Do you keep overlooking it?
Everything is impermanent, including your joy. So pay attention and savor it.
1-min clip where Sam Harris says there will be a time in your life where you’d give anything to be where you are now.