This weather has been like a full stop on outdoor activity.
It is not like it has rained excessively hard, but it has been consistently wet for days.  We have a weather gauge we like to check.  We have had about 6 inches over the last five days.  Just when I think it may be improving, and I have seen the end of it, it rains seriously again.
I had in mind to mow the lawn for visitors last Tuesday.  Well that option has not been available from about then.  The lawn has been too wet.  It looks healthy for sure, but it is in need of a haircut really.
This is supposed to clear out in the next day or two so I should get to it early next week.
That will be just in time for our planned trip away.  We are going to Daydream Island for a few days.  We are utilizing a deal whereby we got it at what we believe was a good price.  We have upgraded our room so we have a balcony and view of the sea.
In the meantime, we have been doing indoor things at home.  The place looks neat. It has not precluded any outdoor stuff like Merril traveling to Warick to see her mum and me having breakfast with a mate.
I have decided these days are spent quietly.  It may only be four days, but I am feeling like it is time off.  In the not too distant future, I will need to prepare for going away but that does not need to be today, and the rain means it will probably not be.  I mean I have some serious watching to do.
It is sort of a pottering day.  There is stuff we would like to get done and stuff we will do but there does not feel like the pressure is on to get it done.  I want to read some today.  I am also listening to a podcast I am liking.  So I reckon I will be gainfully employed doing stuff I want to do.

Today is the day I get the James Clear email.  There was something said in that in a way I had not considered before that resonates with me.  He was talking about success and had three bits of advice including, "Take all the energy you spend on...worrying about the past, future, what others think and if you might fail... and channel that energy into one useful action within your control."
What hit me was him saying "Stories of failure resonate more than stories of success. Few people reach the top, but everyone has failed—including those who eventually succeed… Start with how you failed."
Just about every true story I have read or movie I have seen about a character that stands out, starts with them failing.  Not everyone succeeds but everyone fails – some in epic fashion.  Yet my thinking is that failing does not make me a failure.  Giving up before I succeed does.
But what got me about what was said “Start with how you failed” - that is something everyone can relate to.
It really ties in with what I try to do when writing (with varying degrees of success).  When faced with using a big or little word I chose the little word as more can understand and relate.  Using the little word means everyone can understand and go on the journey with me.  But using a bigger word excludes.  My thinking is it is better to include where possible.
Where I worked at a university had a building without a lift.  I thought anyone in a wheelchair cannot get to the department.  To me that potentially excluded someone who might be the one to solve a vexing problem.  I was pleased to see a lift added.  Also, when it comes to politics, I refuse to declare a favouritism as that potentially excludes up to 50% of people and maybe more.
By the same token not everyone can relate to success and to speak only of that excludes many.  Yet when I am willing to talk of failures and successes all can relate to the first part of my story.  Anyone who stays with me is generally wanting to experience success for themselves.
Looking back on my life I have had epic fails and in parts of my life I still experience them.  Yet I have also known and also know success.  It is the getting through the failures and experiencing success that resonates.
That does not mean I dwell on failure as that is not where I live, but I do talk about it as the relatable backdrop to success.
My story of success has involved a really good mentor.  Someone who’ advice and guidance has always been good.  Failure happens but it is a stepping stone rather than a stumbling block.

“Say what?”
Today is Dictionary day and my finger again fell on something I was totally unaware of.  It was the term “Subclinical”.  It is medical and refers to “relating to or denoting a disease which is not severe enough to present definite or readily observable symptoms.”
A bit better but not much then what my finger fell on in the first instance. LSE.  I did not pursue it as it was an abbreviation for an organization called the London School of Economics.
“Subclinical actually reminded me of something I said to my doctor and low and behold he agreed with me.  I said I thought my system always had a mild infection.  For me it has meant I have often been resistant to serious outbreaks of flu.
For sure it is not always the case but the last time I had a serious fu was in the 90’s.  It stands out to me big time as I knew exactly who I got it from.  I was on the train going north to visit my mum.  The guy in the seat opposite was as sick as a dog.
When I arrived at my mums place, I got as sick as a dog and remember being in bed with it.  Not the ideal way to spend a holiday.  Anyway, it ran its course and normal programming resumed.
That was like 30 years ago.  I have had the mumps since.  I never got them as a kid but that was made up for later.  Again, I remember who I got them off.  A friend had just had them, and I remember him giving me a drink of water.  It’s funny how that stands out.  We were all a part of a band and due to play at an air show.  It was touch and go but we did it.
Of course I have had the stoke due to the cutting of an artery to get to a malignant mass in my brain. That was a lifesaving procedure, but I put the effects of that down to human intervention.  Definitely not a good look, but I reckon a lot of good has come from that series of events.
So I sort of relate to “subclinical.”  I reckon I am not 100% most of the time but it is so mild it cannot even be identified.  Life is good.  No complaints here.