First, I want to thank all the GIRLS who so readily posted a comment telling me how quickly and easily they got the ball from last night's link to change colors. If I weren't such a hunk with nearly unlimited athletic abilities I might almost feel my manhood threatened.
If you're impressed by really good drifting (I am), and if you've ever tried to control an RC car (I have) this will blow you away. I can't imagine the dexterity it takes to pull this off.
My bike ride this morning was supposed to be an LSD - the normal Saturday long distance ride where I don't pay any attention to speed. But shortly after my turn around on this out-and-back route I stopped to see if my rear tire was going flat. It was down a little on pressure but not flat. While I'm on the right side of the shoulder checking my tire this guy, also on a road bike, went by me without so much as a "hello." How rude! I decided some payback was in order. So I got on my bike, hammered until I was on his rear wheel and then drafted for about 1/4 mile to catch my breath (I don't think he knew I was there). Then, just as we came to the bottom of a gradual hill, I blew by him. If you've ever done any racing, running or riding, you know how demoralizing it is to get passed going up a hill. Of course once I'd done that I couldn't let him hang with me, so I had to continue to hammer for the next 8 miles or so to make sure I kept a distance between us. He crept up on me a couple of times, which forced me to push it more. He was about 50 yards behind me when he turned right at 107th and I kept going straight on Happy Valley - victorious and thoroughly exhausted.
The male ego is a powerful, if shallow and predictable thing. It's the cause of all kinds of stupid behavior. For example, have you ever heard a woman begin by saying, "Watch this" and end up needing first aid? So here I sit, thighs still aching, trying to decide it that moral victory was worth tonight's pain.
Yeah, of course it was!
I was reminded this week of the link between physiology and psychology. We are complex organisms, "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Ps. 139:14). Just as surely as emotional illness can affect physical health, physical health - or rather, some physiological disease - can very often affect mental health.
The mystery that is the human brain functions with a very delicate balance of a variety of factors, including certain chemicals. Too much or too little of any one of those chemicals can disrupt motor function or throw emotional stability for a real loop. We watched a PBS show on children with Tourette's Syndrome this week and one of the things I learned was that the physical disorder is often accompanied by OCD and depression. They think the same brain abnormalities that cause the one cause the others.
As a society we're still not to the point where we see mental disease as a disease that very often (most often?) has physiological causes. This is especially true of depression. We more readily accept the psychotic's behavior as something beyond his control than the struggles of the person who battles depression. Yet the success of antidepressants, drugs which carefully alter the brain's chemistry, should show us that in those cases at least, the person is no more culpable for their depression than the diabetic is for their inability to produce sufficient insulin.
As scientists learn more about the human brain I'm sure we're going to find more emotional and mental problems that can be traced back to a physiological abnormality. But even what we know now should remind us to be careful about our conclusions regarding those who struggle with emotional illness.
I think I'm going to eat my supper now and then go back and get that stupid ball to change colors. Else how can I show my face in public ever again?
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