New Year's Resolution #1: Learn To Forgive

So, after a nice Christmas break with family in Las Vegas, I left at 4 PM on Monday because of work that started at 6:30 AM the next day. Frustrating enough, I faced nasty traffic going back to Los Angeles, finally getting back to my apartment at 11:30 PM. And what's the first thing my landlady/apartment-mate tells me when I get back?

"Don't make any noise tonight; I need to sleep."

... [forehead-vein starts throbbing] ...

So surely enough, my tired, non-confrontational self goes to bed, my blood reaching a silent boil as profanity-littered run tirades through my head over and over, when I hear my landlady/apartment-mate fiddling in the bathroom. At that point I'm thinking: "Oh hell yeah, you go ahead make that noise, so I can finally deliver one nice, well-placed, and especially irritating complaint about how I NEED SLEEP, how I NEED TO GET TO WORK AT 6:30 IN THE MORNING, how SHE WAS MAKING TOO MUCH DAMN NOISE."

And I didn't do it. I couldn't.

Somewhere inside, I thought that I couldn't do it to her, because she's probably facing some much bigger issues, and if she can't tolerate even the tiniest of noises, then her life must really be Hell. But more importantly, yelling at her just wouldn't be me.

I don't know whether you would call it nice or cowardly, but whatever it was, I still didn't forgive her. I guess that's the difference from being nice, and being passive aggressive.

Investing To Rebuild New Orleans

While charitable organizations and the media focus on the short-term needs of the people of New Orleans like food & water, the issues concerning the long-term rebuilding and redevelopment of New Orleans go relatively ignored. The work of socially-conscious investors is looking to change this, encouraging investors to put their money in financial organizations dedicated to protecting the interests of the poor, displaced residents of the city.

A must-read article for the social activist and the financial investor in all of us.

Today, I Was Reminded of a Proverb

"I wept because I had $95 in parking tickets, until I met the man whose suitcase with all his bank account information was stolen."

An apt proverb, indeed.