"Stop trying to navigate the path while the forest is dark. You'll most want to try to make changes to your life when you're consumed by emotion, but that's the worst time to do so. Do not make decisions when you're upset. Let yourself come back down to neautral first."

A thought in her head said No. It was overruled. She'd made up her mind.

Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

In a healthy sexual relationship, BOTH partners should be the active partners and the partners with the power, in initiation, in decision-making, and when it comes down to actual sexual activity. Even if you're role-playing during sex, and there literally is a top and a bottom, both partners should still be active partners, with equal say, value and weight. In a healthy sexual relationship, everyone having sex is in charge, not just one person.

If you’re worried about asserting yourself, about stepping up and talking about what you really want and need, about being in charge just as much as your partner is -- or about threatening your relationship by doing so; if you feel threatened or usurped by a partner doing those things, step back and evaluate the situation. Are you really ready to be in an intimate relationship with someone else or not? Is your partner? Are you involved with someone who’s really not right or appropriate for you? Are you ready to make full allowances for someone else’s needs and wants and learn to work with theirs, even when it’s hard or disappointing? Do you feel confident enough in yourself to both assert your own needs and desires AND to make some compromises with them sometimes? Do you feel secure and safe enough with the person you’re with to screw up sometimes and deal with that? All of those things are worth looking at to be sure that you’re both able to share the wheel.

From Reciprocity, Reloaded by Heather Corinna

Praxis is now contained within a single GitHub repository. The project was previously split between client and server, which didn't bring many benefits and mainly served to increase the barrier to entry for new contributors. Now it's as simple as cloning the project and following the steps in the readme file.

I feel like some of my posts make it sound like I don't like Poseidon and that's not true. I think he's one of the better gods probably--he certainly seems less selfish throughout the series (though Percy is an unreliable narrator and he clearly does like and respect his father so who knows bc he's v selfish in tlo), and he makes many efforts to connect with Percy that we neither see nor hear about the other gods doing. But I think the point of the series is that everyone has flaws and can (and should) work to do better, and I think Poseidon clearly has flaws. It's not that he doesn't have Percy's best interests at heart when he speaks to him or helps him, or that he doesn't love/respect Sally, or that he's a liar. It's just that there's clearly a lot at play, and I think it would be a mistake to boil any decision or statement down to just one reason.

For any of the characters.

No good decision was ever made in a swivel chair.

- General George S. Patton

Patton never minced his words because he lived them out. The great World War Two general believed he could not lead his men effectively unless he got his hands dirty himself. That way he could understand exactly what he was asking of them. Hence his belief that a good leader should, “Do everything you ask of those you command.” His inspirational style and aura rubbed off on people fighting beside him, and it came from setting a personal example.

Hi everyone,

I found a helpful flowchart that I think will be very helpful when it comes to making decisions.

Autisticality

~ Eight Biblical Tests for Decision Making ~

[Thanks Ian Sanders]

* * * *

“We cannot take refuge in fantasies of either omnipotence or impotence. The difficult truth is less grand: that there is a something apart from ourselves, which we can influence to some degree. And the evidence is that how we do so matters.”

― Iain McGilchrist, The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World

Everyone Else: “Hold on, I gotta consult the Stars for this decision.” The Stars When Consulted: “Nay, We see great despair in this path thou follows. Turn back or face thy consequences.”

Me: “Hold on, I gotta consult JB for this decision.” Judgement Boy When: “Hmmmm, well, you’ll be making a piss-poor decision on that one, buddy-boy, but taking that L would be pretty funny.”

Source details and larger version.

Some strange and unusual vintage diagrams.

Make it tomorrow's problem, Trudy.

“Solving a problem is hard enough; it gets that much harder if you’ve decided beforehand it can’t be done”

Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner

In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.

- General Dwight D. Eisenhower

During the evening of June 2, 1944, Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force, General Dwight D. Eisenhower met with Winston Churchill, British General Bernard Montgomery, and other military commanders at Allied headquarters in England. They were discussing and planning Overlord invasion of Normandy, which was scheduled to launch in a few days. D-Day was the largest amphibious invasion in history, and Eisenhower had overseen the highly complex military and intelligence preparations for the past six months. The objective of D-Day was to establish an immediate beachhead in order to begin the liberation of Nazi-occupied France. Ultimately, the Allies would fight their way through France and into Germany, forcing Germany’s surrender in World War II.

Eisenhower felt the heavy responsibilities of command for the invasion. The Allies would have only one attempt to invade northern France. If the attack failed due to circumstances beyond his control (such as the weather) or if the soldiers failed to dislodge the Nazi enemy from the beaches, the successful outcome of the war would be greatly jeopardised. Moreover, the certain deaths of thousands of young men from across America and the British Empire haunted him and caused him great anxiety.

After dinner, Eisenhower and his generals gathered in the study where they received a distressing weather report that a storm was blowing in and would delay the invasion. Eisenhower confided to his diary that he felt great stress. “Probably no one who does not have to bear the specific and direct responsibility of making the final decision as to what to do can understand the intensity of these burdens.”

Eisenhower received similar weather reports during the next two days that further postponed the attack. Eisenhower was more frustrated than ever because if the attack did not go off in the next two days, it would have to wait at least two weeks for the right combination of moonlight, tides, and weather. Much could happen in the course of the war in a two-week span, and every day the war continued brought much death and misery. With so many lives at stake, he had to be patient enough not to force the attack. But, with victory on the line, he had to be bold enough to seize any opportunity. Eisenhower tried to relax but strained under the awful burdens of command.

During the evening of June 4, the predicted storm slammed headquarters with driving wind and rain. Just as his hope was melting away, Eisenhower received a favorable weather report that would give him a small window to launch the attack. He only had half an hour in which to make the fateful decision. It was the most important decision of his life, and the course of the war hinged on it. He was quiet as he privately deliberated for several minutes. The decision was his alone to make. Finally, the Supreme Commander said, “I am quite positive we must give the order. I don’t like it but there it is . . .I don’t see how we can do anything else.”

Eisenhower had an opportunity to revisit his decision the following morning with one final weather report and last-minute discussion with his generals. He again paced the floor and silently considered the questions for five minutes. He broke his reverie, looked up, and said,

“Okay. We’ll go.” The invasion began that night.

Eisenhower wrote out a message during the day that demonstrated his character. In an incredible act of moral courage, he took responsibility in case the invasion failed. He could have blamed a thousand factors beyond his control, but instead he shouldered the entire responsibility

During the evening before the attack, he visited with the troops of the 101st Airborne, looked them in the eye, spoke with them, learned their names, and bolstered their morale. Eisenhower also sent a message to all of the invading Allied forces to encourage them as they prepared assault German defenses. The leader of the Allied forces of the free world did not shrink from his duty and responsibility of leadership.

On 6 June 1944, the invasion succeeded in establishing a beachhead for Allied troops. Eisenhower did not have to publish the message in his pocket, but he still felt the awful responsibility of every soldier who died invading France to destroy the Nazi scourge.

Photo: D-Day commanders L-R: General Omar Bradley, Admiral Bertram Ramsey, Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder,  General Dwight D Eisenhower, General Sir Bernard Montgomery, Air Chief Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory, and Lieutenant-General Walter Bedell Smith.

TO ALL YOUR HAND IN MINE READERS (and non-readers):

I haven't decided on whether there will be three or four kitten, so whichever three names have the most votes will be the chosen names (and if the top votes went to two of the choices with pair names I'll go with four kittens).

Please reblog to help get the largest amount of input!