For years my wife has suffered from an irregular but recurring condition in her inner ear where she would lose her equilibrium. She gets nauseous and finds even sitting up difficult. It usually passed with the aid of a little Meclazine and sometimes those pressure bracelets help.
In addition, she is very sensitive to movement, even the sight of movement. I guess you could say she suffers from motion sickness. This can be brought on by a scene in a movie, in addition to going around turns too fast as a passenger in a vehicle.
Thinking about her problem started me pondering the significance of equilibrium in our everyday lives, not just physically, as in my wife’s case, but also emotionally, even spiritually.
When we lose our equilibrium we have problems navigating, whether it is the next 20 feet or sometimes, the next step. I think we all can understand the need for balance when moving about physically, but we also need a sense of balance when moving about socially. One definition of equilibrium in the American Heritage Dictionary is “Mental or emotional balance; poise.” Poise. That’s it, the ability to maintain our composure, our equilibrium in adverse circumstances or when under stress. That is something we all need in order to successfully navigate the social landscape.
I, along with most geeks and nerds, will admit to a lack of poise. It has been woefully obvious over my lifetime that I am still deficient in this basic need, though not for lack of desire or trying. However, in recent years my poise has shown signs of modest growth, partially from natural maturity and partially from a concerted effort combined with the grace of God. I just don’t lose my composure as easily as I used to.
So, when all of you regular people out there interact with us geeks and nerds, remember that our apparent congenital lack of poise is not necessarily due to our choice or from a lack of our effort. Please consider giving us the benefit of the doubt and have a little compassion for our deficiency.
Have a good day and be nice to a geek or nerd today or sometime this coming week.
