House of Eratosthenes

1. Your relationships are less dramatic than they use to be.
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5. You’ve raised your standards.

6. You let go of things that don’t make you feel good.
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9. You’ve learned that setbacks and failure are part of self-growth.
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13. You don’t complain much, but instead focus on solutions.
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15. You stopped caring about what others think of you.

A common theme I’m seeing to it all is, abandoning this pursuit of coming out on top in any given confrontation. That’s a definitional attribute in redneck-ness, along with annoying-urban-liberal-hipster-ness, this whole “me right you wrong” thing. Life, it turns out, is a bit more like Chess than Checkers; there can be long-term benefits, not visible in the moment, to losing — in the moment.

There’s a little joke about that.

A big-city lawyer from London went grouse shooting in the Scottish highlands. He shot and dropped a bird, but it fell into a crofter’s field on the other side of a fence.

As the lawyer was climbing over the fence, an elderly crofter drove up on his tractor and asked him what he was doing. The lawyer responded, “I shot a grouse and it fell in this field, and now I’m going in to retrieve it.”

The old crofter replied, “This is ma property, and you’ve nae right tae come o’er here.”

The indignant lawyer said, “I am one of the best trial advocates in the country, and if you don’t let me get my grouse, I’ll sue you and take everything you own.”

The old crofter smiled and said, “Ach, sonny! Keep yer heid oan! Apparently, ye dinna ken hoo we dae things in the Highlands. Up here we settle wee argy-bargys like this wi’ the ‘Three-Kick Rule’.”

The lawyer asked, “Just what IS the Three-Kick Rule?”

The farmer replied. “Well, first I kick ye three times, an’ then you kick me three times, and so on, back and forth, until wan o’ us gives up.”

The lawyer quickly thought about the proposed contest and decided that he could easily take the old codger. He agreed to abide by the local custom.

The old crofter slowly climbed down from the tractor and walked up to the city fellow. His first kick planted the toe of his heavy work boot into the lawyer’s groin and dropped him to his knees. His second kick nearly ripped the lawyer’s nose off his face. The lawyer was flat on his belly when the farmer’s third kick to the kidney area nearly caused him to give up. After over ten minutes, the lawyer summoned every bit of his will, struggled to his feet, and said,

“Okay, you old coot, now it’s MY turn.”

The old crofter smiled sweetly and replied, “Naw, I give up. Ye can hiv the wee birdy.”

The Morgan Rule Number One is based on this ancient wisdom, in a way. “If I’m going to be accused, I want to be guilty.”

Scotty really was a miracle worker!
- nightfly | 06/17/2014 @ 11:07
15. You stopped caring about what others think of you.

Outside of my family and friends, I’ve never ever given a crap what other people think about me. It’s something I’m trying to instill in my children as well because they will be much more content that way.

As the man said, “People are dumb, panicky animals and you know it.” There’s no way in hell I would ever let the opinion of such people affect me one way or the other.
- Physics Geek | 06/19/2014 @ 12:02

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Twenty-Five Signs You’re Succeeding at Life Even if it Doesn’t Feel Like it
Monday, June 16th, 2014