Uncomfortableness in the Eyes: The Four Hour Workweek

I'm reading Timothy Ferris's book, The Four Hour Workweek, and although I have no desire to be part of the New Rich or to outsource scheduling of doctor appointments to someone in India, I do like the idea of independence: both personal and financial.

So far I've been confirmed in a number of things, like my selective ignorance (I hate watching/reading news - if it's important, someone will tell me). I've also been challenged. What Time Waste activities keep me from being productive? Um, not blogging. Nooo, certainly not that. Or email. Or Facebook. Or mindless Google searches for nonsensical things like, "Can Babies Eat Beets?" or "What to do if Baby eats a button?"

Ferris suggests certain exercises meant to make the reader embrace uncomfortableness, to release fears. The first one was simple: make eye contact. When speaking, when walking around, whenever. Just make eye contact and hold it. I thought, sheesh, I'm great at this!

Then I went to the shoe store. A man stopped me and started cooing at the baby. I looked at little Rowdy and smiled. She smiled. We all smiled. The man asked questions about her, I answered, but all the while I was looking - not at him - at the baby! It didn't occur to me to look at him consistently until the second time I ran into him. Then maintaining eye contact - wow, it was hard. Painful, almost. With his wife it was somewhat easier, but still unnatural.

I've had similar results at the grocery store, Blockbuster, other random places. Hmmm. Is this the first step toward something new? I don't know. But stay tuned for updates. This book is giving me ideas. And you know what happens with ideas. They sometimes lead to ... adventures.

Dangerous, they are. Dangerous.

Yes, this is Fish trying to fry an egg on the driveway. No, it didn't fry. It might have, but he sprayed it with water.