Oil and Water

Ones character stems from ones background, Mothers and Fathers project a set of ideals which become instinctively, our own.  As life goes by we set out trying to convince others of what have become, in our eyes, self evident truths. In fact they were only ideas and not truths.

The struggle between father and son or mother and daughter signals the emergence of an independence which starts to question those early ideals. The conflict becomes acute as time and custom move on. The old cling to their routine the young invent new ways to do old things. With the confusing tools that the internet brings there seems an ever widening gap between the age groups with a disinclination to find common ground. For the old there is the apprehension of being left behind and a sense of loosing relevance. In the young there is the realisation that technology has provided a weapon to confuse and mystify !!       

Like the mixture of oil and water in the bilge, neither of much use, either as fuel or fit to drink. Like setting cement. Up to a stage in the process one can affect the outcome but after time, any attempt to disturb the process weakens the end result.

Do we the oldies continue to strive to maintain our pre-eminence or do we take the easy way out, sipping our sun downers, and applauding the beauty of the hydrangea.  

Of course the famous concept of the "now" ( "past" and "future" of no relevance).  

A moment in time, an event on the ups and downs of a curve. The point by point plot of our progress through life. A series of experiences that form who we are.  

Its like the process of "differentiation"  in calculus where one represents any event by an equation which correspond to the event, as a point on a curve. Each subsequent point is depicted by another equation and so on and so on.  Joining the points (integral calculus) reveals a curve which represents the whole event. The life cycle from beginning to end, from birth to death. 

If one can determine the equation (the detailed description) of the moment through self analysis one can effect subsequent moments and therefore the shape of the curve and ones path in life.    
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