...Keep Moving
There has been a great deal of research to attempt to explain why Einstein was so brilliant. They have done years of research on literary looking into his brain. This is the comparison of a typical brain and his brain.
This may be one of the reasons that Einstein was a genius. Nonetheless, Einstein's genius was not limited to science. While innate scientific ability is not something about which Einstein and I share in common, bike riding is.
Einstein seemed to enjoy riding; I seemed a bit too determined. Aside from the biking whether joyful or determined, Einstein also provided some interesting scientific insights related to pedaling. In addition, Einstein saw the parallel between biking and life in general. Perhaps this is his general theory of life.
In the past six years, I have danced with death twice. I thoroughly understand Einstein's advice general theory of life. On one of my dances with death, I was in an ICU ward at a local hospital and in another rehab hospital for about seven weeks as a result of falling off a ladder. I hit my head causing a subdural hematoma. After surgery, I was able to recognize and talk to family members. Nonetheless, I cannot remember anything prior to the fall or while in ICU. In fact, during the three weeks at the rehab hospital, I can only remember the last half of that stay. The road to recovery took several months, but I am riding a bike around the subdivision for 45-minutes every day or doing a similar exercise in my exercise room in the house. To keep my physical and mental equilibrium, I needed to keep moving. The same is true regarding the reoccurrence of my prostate cancer after surgery. The surgeon who robotically removed the prostate told me that the cancer had gotten outside the prostate and that the cancer would return. Instead of getting depressed, I had PSA tests every six months. Within a couple of years, the PSA indicated that the cancer had returned. I began four months of hormone therapy and two months of radiation, which meant that I kept moving. I am beginning my fifth year cancer free. A couple of months ago, I had a routine cataract surgery, which went fine. After the first surgery, it was amazing how bright and defined the world really was. However, after the second surgery, reading and seeing things clearly was gone. I saw wiggling lines on things like the white or yellow lines on the road or straight lines on my computer while teaching or writing. Now, I could have just given up, but I went back to the eye doctor again for several more visits with her and more exams with her tech support people. Finally, she sent me to a retinologist. She was concerned about age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The retinologist confirmed her diagnosis. There I was being told that at nearly 72-years of age that I was getting old. I could have quit riding the bike, retired from teaching, and just sit at home complaining about my ill fortunes. Instead, I sat there listening to the retinologist and acted like my grandson, Jack. Jack will ask why something happens until you give him an answer to his why-questions that he understands. I asked the retinologist why I had trouble reading, seeing things clearly, and have the wiggle lines? I am sure that he answered my question the first time I asked it, but I did not get it. Again, the retinologist went over his explanation. He even used a model of a large plastic eye on his desk to explain my problem. After the third or fourth time, I finally got it. I continued my pedaling by asking why. In addition to Jack's questioning and Einstein's general theory of life, Confucius said, "It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop." In addition, the Asian philosophical Einstein also said, "Nothing happens until something moves." The retinologist, Einstein, and Confucius morphed together. Then Saul Alinsky entered my head while I wandered in darkness and doom. Alinsky said, "We must believe that it is the darkest before the dawn of a beautiful new world. We will see it when we believe it." Then after pushing for an answer, I finally really saw the light. It was not until the cataracts were removed that I could clearly see that I had a problem...age-related macular degeneration. I had had AMD for several years, but the cataract covered it up. I could not see my macular degeneration due to the cataracts. Therefore, having my cataracts removed, so that I would not go blind in several years, allowed me to see that I had another problem, AMD. I could have been sitting at home complaining about how unfair the world was to me. However, that would have gotten me nowhere. In time, I would be either blind from cataracts and/or blind from macular degeneration. The cataract issue has been resolved. I am addressing my macular degeneration issue. Einstein was correct about what I called his general theory of life. "Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving." This part of my essay is an extremely interesting aside. What I call Einstein's general theory of life was first written to his son on February 5, 1930. He wanted his son to keep on moving in spite of problems that his son was having while pedaling down his road through life. Therefore, Einstein wrote a letter to his son with this insight, "Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving." The other enormously interesting addition to this essay is that some people who knew Einstein said that he told them that his theory of relativity came to him while riding a bike. Therefore, I promise you that I will continue to ride my bike. In addition, you might promise yourself to ride a bike also. However, do not to forget to keep moving regardless of the difficulty of the road of life might be. For those that are interested in Einstein's brain, listen to this audio clip:
Visit the On Seeing the Light page to read more about this topic.
Visit the Connecting the Dots page to read more about this topic.
Visit the Darkest Before Dawn page to read more about this topic.
Visit the Confucius Said page to read more about this topic. 12/22/14 Follow @mountain_and_me |
