If you were to ask me, “do you have a match?”  I would likely say, “not since superman died.”  Except that would be wrong on a few levels.  Superman is an imaginary character and I don’t think he has died.  I reckon I would have heard about it. (Though that is not guaranteed.  I had to google the other day if Bambi’s mum was shot.  Turned out she was)
Comparisons with superman.  I don’t think so.  I am not that good.  Close maybe in my dreams. 
The main reason that would be wrong is that I really do not compare myself or get my self-worth from others.  I know in life there will always be people better than me and worse than me.  My competition in life is not with others but with myself.
Growing up my best mate was better than me.  Academically I did not stand a chance.  It was not till grade 11 that it really hit me that I should put my head down and attempt to do better.  Up till then one teacher had said to my parents, “at least he is good at sport.”
He got that right.  Cept my best mate was better than me.  Academically and sports wise. Academically I was against it I reckon.  His dad was a professor and his mum a doctor.  I remember us riding homemade go-carts. I was thinking of the best way to go to slow the thing down on the hill we were on.  What was he thinking about?”  I have just realized” he said, “why this bitumen is to be preferred.  It has less gaps and therefore wheels hold the surface better.”  In the short term that was not as important as slowing down the go cart in my mind, but in the long term I would say it was probably useful information.
In sport I had to settle for being second best – to him.  Ok it was a small pond of several hundred, but it was my world.
The thing is it highlights to me that in life there are always people better and worse than me.  Fact of life.  But as I say they are not my real competition.  I am my major competition.  My grades were such it opened doors for me and his opened doors for him.
My story is my story and not another’s.  Being content with myself liberates but continually comparing myself at best leads to short term victory or frustration and at worst bitterness, resentment and envy.

This morning I was wondering what I was going to write about.  I had no idea.  I thought well I may as well get set up.  That is, set up a new page in word, get the font size (14), justify the page, and set the margin at narrow.
That is what I do every day in setting up to write.  I then write what I am writing about, give it a title, save it, find a picture that goes with it, post it in facebook and onto my web site.
This morning I set up not knowing what I was going to write about.  But something occurred to me in the process I thought was worth writing about.
It occurred to me how often life is like that.  I know what I want, but I do not know how to get there.  I set up in the expectation that in doing so the next step will be obvious. 
To me there are a couple of things that really matter in that process.  The first is to know what I want.  For me that is often the hardest part.  As they say “aim for nothing and you are sure to hit it.”   For me goals matter big time.  Not just choosing one for the sake of it but choosing one based on my interests, bent and the way I feel I should go.  It can be tricky, but they reckon the hardest part of anything is to get started.
I saw that when crew on a two person catamaran (Cobra Cat).  We would hoist the sails and were totally dependent on the breeze getting a hold of them to get us moving.
It’s funny but I thought of another thing we saw in sailing that seems to go with this.  It was a dependable fact that the breeze is always greater just above the head.  It is why so often birds are seen skimming the surface of the water.  There is less resistance lower and therefore flight is easier.
When I find and pursue my goal it is good to go up higher.  Ok things are easier lower, but the view is limited.  The higher I fly the better chance I have seeing where I am going.  It may be more tumultuous, but generally worthwhile stuff is harder to get.
I really loved what Australian number one ranked men’s tennis player (Alex de Minaur) said yesterday about his tough draw in the Australian Open. “if it was easy everyone would be doing it.”  To me worthwhile things cost.  Time, effort, thinking, practice, resistance.
Ok so sometimes I don’t know the process, but I only know what I am going for.  Stage two is only accessible by completing stage one.

I am still coming to terms with it.  Though after 68 years you would think it would be done and dusted.  But no.  Every year I question it more.
Getting older that is.  Birthdays. I mean, do I celebrate each time an appliance gets a year older?  No, I tend to celebrate when it is new.  Yet here I am celebrating another birthday.  Getting longer in the tooth (not that my teeth are getting longer but I think you knew that) 
But there is one element I am thankful for with the celebration – presents.  There is actually more than that I am thankful for like friends, longevity etc but presents is part of the deal and I will take it.
Merril has a few things wrapped which I will open later.  I got a Lowes gift card from my bro.  One thing I asked Merril for was a display cabinet to display my stamps.  It arrived early.  Delivered to the door in flat pack form.  We knew it was pointless me pretending to wonder what that was.  We both knew and set aside a time to put it together.
We are attempting to purchase everything with glass substitutes.  Hence this cabinet is made of bamboo (much lighter but very strong) and perspexs. There are a number of reasons for that.  My bro had a stroke and diabetes.  As a result he had trouble feeling.  I got rid of as much glass as I could in his home.  To a lessor extent I had a stroke and just feel better using melamine.  Lastly concrete and glass do not tend to go well together so to me less glass makes for a safer environment.
Anyway we got the cabinet and put it together.  It actually proved to be surprisingly easy to put together. We did the wrong thing once and needed to undo a bit, but it was like 10 minutes work.  I do reckon it is a clever design.
So here I am on my day off on my birthday.  I am unsure what the day will hold but I do know I will be continuing to populate the cabinet.