Balance. Purpose. Enlightenment.
Battling a Hoogwar at Home
[Dr. Stelle’s history of early Mukulian civilization, The Sun Rises, describes an attack by a hoogwar, the ancestor of our modern jaguar, on two young men of that time. For today’s Lemurians “battling a hoogwar” has come to mean grappling with one of the difficult challenges in our lives.]
One Sunday morning after the housework was done, I sat down at the computer to work on a task I thought would take about fifteen minutes. An hour and a half later I was still correcting, rewriting, and feeling pitiful because I was still such a klutz on the computer. (At 75, I don’t pretend to be computer savvy, but I keep trying.) Several times I was sure my document was just as I wanted it, but every time I printed a copy, there was another glitch I had missed. To add exasperation to impatience, the printer gobbled up one page and refused to do any more.
Realizing I was slipping into terminal “poor me” mode, I shut off the computer, went outside and walked around the house admiring the sunshine and the fact that the dogs, at least, were behaving themselves, then went back in to try again. That in itself was a minor victory.
I am not computer friendly, and they are not friendly to me either. We have a longstanding adversarial relationship. All I ask is that they perform as I want them to, but they, with little less than fiendish persistence, continue to be extremely picky about how they insist I am supposed to give them my instructions. So doing anything on a computer has pretty much become my Waterloo. I would rather handwrite a letter upside down under water than go through the agonies of composing one in front of that disapproving screen.
As I worked up the courage to try again, I thought of something I’d read about Albert Einstein. While working on his Unified Field Theory, which absorbed him for over thirty years, he studied quietly for hours at a time – which, for a scientist, may be much like meditating.
When blocked with a problem, Einstein stayed calm and serene, moving down different mental paths until he found a way around the roadblock.
I went back to the computer more focused and aware of the pitfalls I’d fallen into earlier. Maybe battling a hoogwar was an overly dramatic way of thinking about this, and made it seem harder than it needed to be. Hurrying hadn’t worked, so slow and steady was the plan, checking and rechecking along the way. During the period I was gone, the computer and printer seem to have talked things over, tossed out whatever I’d fed them that they didn’t like, and now were uncharacteristically eager to get the thing done the way I wanted it.
In a very small way, I had triumphed by establishing my own calm serenity, as our philosophy tells us we’ll need to do often with the many upsetting incidents that can arise in our daily lives. I may not be as far along as Dr. Einstein, but I sure felt much better as I finished my job and turned off the computer that morning.
Copyright © 2016 Lemurian Fellowship
13 thoughts on “Battling a Hoogwar at Home”
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This blog reminds me of battles with my own Hoogwars over the years. The more I fight and become impatient, the more stubborn and mentally tight I become trying to get things to work out the way I want. The turbulent atmosphere I create seems to make everything break down. It takes a concerted effort on my part to set the problem aside and, guided by patience, turn my attention onto something else. Then, as Eric noted, when I’m more relaxed and with my thinking trained in a different direction, the answer or insight I was looking for often pops into mind. It seems as if the mind needs some quiet time to process the issue and work out how to handle it. And, as the writer found, with a greater sense of calm and self-control things just seem to fit together the way they should.
With all the technology in our lives today, things are often beeping or ringing or buzzing at me — phone, computers, washing machine, timer, iPad, even the garage door opener today! I can let myself get annoyed and frustrated. These negative emotions only make the situation worse and disrupt the contentment and peace I strive to have in my life. I have the power to control my feelings — I just need to use it more.
This “Hoogwar hunter” is my wife and I never suspected what was going on beyond the wall that separates our computers. All kidding aside, I too, get impatient when things don’t go my way. Like Paulette, I create another hoogwar by getting impatient and dreaming up things I would like to do to get rid of the problem. Yet, the problem or Hoogwar is there to teach me. If I could see it that way at the time, I would certainly be much better off.
In today’s world with its sense that everything needs getting done right now, working with a mechanical device like a computer can test one’s sanity and patience. I have, like the author, often found myself jammed up against myself due to my impatience. Taking a breath, relaxing, and envisioning a successful outcome often helps. As the sculptor Rodin said: “Patience is also a form of action.”
When I arrive at Gateway after battling my Hoogwars I always seek out this author for her quiet strength and determination.
Staying calm in an unfavorable situation isn’t really easy but worth trying. When I noticed feverish symptoms some weeks ago, I went to the hospital to check. As I requested for my medical file, the attendant got up and went away from the cabinet where the files are. Not feeling well, I became impatient and almost voiced my disapproval, but instead, obeyed a voice within me to remain calm. Shortly after the fellow returned with another staff who came with the file and I was relieved that I did not hurriedly react. We can really battle the Hoogwar successfully even in a calm mode.
Battling with a computer is a common problem. It can be a real love-hate relationship and I can relate to this. But I love the humor in the description of her initial problem and her way of working with it. I would like to relate to the way she handled it (and the other common annoyances of life) more often.
Whether working on a project as a child, or these days trying to fix something around the house, I’ve learned that when I get impatient and rush a project or task I only make more mistakes, get frustrated, and either break what I’m working on or take longer to finish. Things always go better when I consciously approach them with calm patience.
Hard as this can be to do! We admire anyone with the self-discipline to get past the initial urge to throw something or curse the skies and instead, use calm patience. “He who conquers self, conquers all.”
Sometimes I make my challenge – like a trip to the dentist- worse than what it is. I find myself dreading the challenge before it actually gets here. So then I am essentially fighting two battles – the real one and the one I just made up in my head. Don’t help the “Hoogwar”!
“Don’t help the hoogwar!” should become a motto for all of us!
That “calm serenity” is sometimes as hard to obtain as successfully “battling the Hoogwar” is. If I get frustrated on one job, going to a similar one will make me even more upset as I’m still reliving the battle and can’t concentrate as well. It takes a concerted effort to focus my attention on something totally unrelated to the job at hand. I’ve found that doing something physical works for me…cutting the grass, washing the car, chopping wood, etc. Releasing the pent-up energy settles me down and I can then have another go at the “Hoogwar”!
At times I have that same argument with my computer! This way of solving a problem is something I’ll think about in other areas of my life too – acting with calm serenity. Thank you. Beth