The Panda Bear on Shirley Chisholm, Longer Days, and Sucess

he Panda Bear was reviewing articles on the web and she came across a tribute to Shirley Chisholm who was a black congresswoman who ran for president in 1972 under the Democratic party.    The Panda Bear remembers Shirley Chisholm when she ran.   The Panda Bear admired her.   Here was a woman who had grown up disadvantaged and represented a poor community who was running for president.   She challenged the Democratic establishment.   Her motto was unbought and unbossed.   Contrast this to  some of women Democratic leaders now namely Hilary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi who grew up in comfortable circumstances and are very establishment.   

The Panda Bear sometimes gets nostalgic for the Democrats of old.   She recently read a book by someone who worked for the Truman administration who supported a bill guaranteeing full employment to all Americans who wanted a job.   Of course, the Panda Bear  realizes that this would be a practical impossibility.   However, since 2008 its seems that the Democrats have been very tolerant of high unemployment rates and have done very minimal to help people get jobs.   She is not surprised that they lost the election.

What inspired today's post was not politics but rather the longer days.   It used to get dark at 4:30.   Now it gets dark at the late time of 5:09.   The Panda Bear used to get so tired at 6:30.   It had been dark for two hours and it seemed like it was the middle of the night.    Now with longer days the Panda Bear can stay awake later.   Furthermore, it seems that one day it will stay light until 9:00.   Oh joyous day!!

Furthermore, the Panda Bear has lost five pounds since January 1(her goal is to lose another twenty-five pounds).   However, at times she still feels somewhat down.   Part of it is probably the winter blues.   The days are short.   It is harder to get out to see people.   Furthermore, the Panda Bear is developing cabin fever from being inside so much.

For some reason the Panda Bear has been thinking about the nature of success.   The Panda Bear defines success as obtaining a goal.   She thinks of a quote from Oscar Wilde that went something like this:   There are two tragedies  in life.   One is not getting what you want and the other is getting it.

The Panda Bear thinks there is a lot of truth to this statement.   She thinks the reality often is a disappointment compared to the dream.   Usually the reality is a lot more work and not is pretty nor as glamorous as the fantasy.   On the other hand, the Panda Bear thinks(she thinks she got this idea from Buddhism), that in the long run we are happier in reality free from our illusions.  Part of maturing is exchanging the fantasy for the reality.