Sorry you’re going through that. I’m not a scientist, just an internet person who thought of that Denethor quote when I read your comment.
I have been very frustrated with things though and what helped me was reading some stoic philosophy, caring a lot more about the things I can control and a lot less about what I can’t. Basically managing expectations, as you put it. Oh and also therapy. Not sure if any of that will help or not but it’s helped me after living without much hope for some time.
Hope you’re able to find the motivation you need to keep doing the important work you do, stranger. Good luck to you.
Thanks for the sympathy. I apologize if you thought I meant anything at all about you - I did get myself triggered, and in greatly shortening the text it lost clarity that I was attempting to humorously refer to the community’s motto:
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
Without the word “peacock” in my reply… yeah that just got totally lost didn’t it?:-P Also, this little gem of a 10-year-old video worked its way into my language as well:-P.
You - and that Denethor quote - are totally right. We cannot manage to control the entire universe, so we should just focus on what we can do. e.g., we aren’t all going to make it, I now think, therefore I help those who I can. Like literally, what more could possibly be done?
Also, I have lost hope that the short- or medium-term situation will improve, but I can still fight back by slowing the degradation.:-) Some possibly nice words to that effect: the concept of “hope”, much like “good”, does not exist in a vacuum: we need to hold out hope FOR something specific - so it helps to try to form a mental picture for what that is.
We cannot ever move back, so all that remains is to decide how best to move forward, choosing among the options that do exist.
Sorry you’re going through that. I’m not a scientist, just an internet person who thought of that Denethor quote when I read your comment.
I have been very frustrated with things though and what helped me was reading some stoic philosophy, caring a lot more about the things I can control and a lot less about what I can’t. Basically managing expectations, as you put it. Oh and also therapy. Not sure if any of that will help or not but it’s helped me after living without much hope for some time.
Hope you’re able to find the motivation you need to keep doing the important work you do, stranger. Good luck to you.
Thanks for the sympathy. I apologize if you thought I meant anything at all about you - I did get myself triggered, and in greatly shortening the text it lost clarity that I was attempting to humorously refer to the community’s motto:
Without the word “peacock” in my reply… yeah that just got totally lost didn’t it?:-P Also, this little gem of a 10-year-old video worked its way into my language as well:-P.
You - and that Denethor quote - are totally right. We cannot manage to control the entire universe, so we should just focus on what we can do. e.g., we aren’t all going to make it, I now think, therefore I help those who I can. Like literally, what more could possibly be done?
Also, I have lost hope that the short- or medium-term situation will improve, but I can still fight back by slowing the degradation.:-) Some possibly nice words to that effect: the concept of “hope”, much like “good”, does not exist in a vacuum: we need to hold out hope FOR something specific - so it helps to try to form a mental picture for what that is.
We cannot ever move back, so all that remains is to decide how best to move forward, choosing among the options that do exist.