HOW TO BE IMPULSIVE

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YOU KNOW IT’S THE WRITE WAY

HOW TO BE IMPULSIVE

You’ve seen him – her – before. And every time you do so you want to know him – to want more. To make her part of your life. But this can be frightening – making that first move. So what do we do?
We have an in-built facility to override our normal behaviour, our restraint, and just go for it. When we do so, we can head for a beautiful life, or total disaster. Maybe this is why we need to be hard-wired this way. Otherwise we’d never do anything.
To be impulsive is to have a sudden urge and follow it. Most changes in our life come from doing it. And as indicated, this can be good, or it can be very bad. The result is, quite literally, in the lap of the gods.

This is so because ‘impulse’ requires no conscious thought.

To think about something is the opposite of impulse. Hence, impulse is a kind of instinct for human interaction. But sadly, impulse can be much more.
It infects our normal life. We impulsively shop. We impulsively eat. We impulsively take impulse into our lives more and more, to the point that conscious thought often disappears.
Why do we do this more and more in the modern world? One answer is that a strict moral code used to hold us back. In effect, we feared retribution, or condemnation. But there is no such fear today.
Which is a good thing as far as Big Biz is concerned. After all, we live in a consumer society, where impulsive buying has become the ‘engine’ of commerce. Strange, though, how we impulsively do their bidding.
Maybe this essay is wrongly titled. Maybe it should be how NOT to be impulsive. But the answer to that is simple. Learn to say ‘no’, and ‘no’ again. And keep doing it until you do it without thought. Impulsively.

© Anthony North, May 2008

BETRAYAL

Love is great, we all agree,
such feelings between your love and thee;
But there is more to this thing called love,
that can rise way above,
our ability to always be,
true and loving, intimately;
The roving eye for another life,
forever bringing trouble and strife;
Never satisfied with our devotion,
going on to create commotion,
as another is spied with adoration,
sating our rabid infatuation;
The loss it leaves is terrible indeed,
fuelling in us an overpowering need,
to take revenge rather than plead;
Betrayal, that horrendous
destructive
unimaginable seed

(c) Anthony North, May 2008

******************************

SOAR

Pull out! Pull out! Damn it pull …
Banking hard. Five G. Six G. Face contorting, the pressure – Man, the pressure! The sky below me, the ground above, the fireball of my Wingman, he’s gone, flames licking my fuselage …
MISSILE LOCKED
Copy.
I’m alone now, just me and that MiG – and a missile locked on my ass.
500 knots
550
600 – I’ll outrun. Afterburn ignites the sky behind me. Wait for it … NOW!!
Counter-measures decoy the missile. I’m free. Roll. Come up behind. 20mm cannon. FIRE!!!
Peace – for a moment – the stench and the flames turning sky to Hell – for a moment.

It’s come to this – now.

It had to. Invade Iran, they said. Easy, they said. No, the Russians wouldn’t take sides – they said …
Remembering: ‘I don’t know you any more.’
‘But Jen, I’m a fighter pilot. I have to do it.’
‘You’re a killing machine. I can’t … take it … I’m sorry.’
Memory makes me angry, makes me sore.
TANK COLUMN SIX O’CLOCK
Copy
Pull left, ground radar searching. Descend low. Play chicken with the ground as it flashes past, undefined.
(tears fill my eyes – Oh! JEN!!!)
Sighted.
COPY
(I love you. Always have. Always will)
500lb bomb selected.
COPY … WAIT … NOT TANKS! NOT TANKS! REFUGEE CONVOY
Jen gone. Wingman gone. Everyone dead. Everyone just damned dead!
Laser guidance selected. Line up for run in …
MiG at 3 O’CLOCK – EVADE!!!!!!!!
Final run. I can imagine the whites of their eyes …
MISSILE LOCKED
I can’t ……………
…
…
…

© Anthony North, May 2008