Today I had a nice lunch and later had some Ice Cream - well, Ice Cream and cookies (as a sandwich). My blood sugar rose.

As a diabetic, I try to generally watch my carb consumption (too much and my thinking gets fuzzy, I get very thirsty and it is bad for me in a number of longer term ways if it happens frequently. Too little and I sweat, get weak and pass out. So balancing my input with my activity is important too. And balance is the key.

So I take insulin. I have a basal insulin that I use that lasts all day. It makes sure there is something to allow my body to process at any given time. I also take short term insulin (fast acting) with most meals.

With my elevated blood sugar, my thinking was getting particularly hard, as I tried to remember a version number for something and I realized I hadn't taken my lunch insulin. About 4 seconds after I took it, I could feel the could moving away.

Thats because insulin is a trigger. It sends messages to the body and because all thought is chemical, the body starts responding immediately. It's amazing to me - especially when it's so tangible. We experience these kinds of things all the time. Regular bodies are doing this automatically, just like our response to other stimuli.

But we often push our signals away - pain, discomfort, need are all managed in order to direct our attention to modern life. But take a minute, especially as you start gaining years, to listen to what your body is saying. Often times you know the answer and you can make your life better, you can maintain your balance, just by minding this. It's worth the time.You're worth the time.

Our opportunity.

Mark Twain is a hero of mine. Although my inner Twain rarely comes out... I'm not nearly as fast witted as Twain was reported to be, he's in me, marveling at the wonders and idiocy of man, self included.

Twain talks about us being the most conceited animal because we are the only ones who think that God spends his time watching over us, interested in our comings and goings. And to an extent, I agree with him. We make more of our momentary issues and problems than god does. We make our own bed, so to speak. 

And yet there is some sort of providence that touches us. Not equally, not fairly, not necessarily justifiably, but, I've experienced it and I've experienced the lack of it. Sometimes within the same experience, just years apart, owing perspective for the experience when I thought providence wasn't present and it was. Some of it comes from the privilege that comes from being white. Some from my upbringing and family. Much providence exists, when it does exist, due to a reasonably balanced socio-economic environment.

But what is providence for one man is not for another. Those that have privilege rely less on that balance. Those that don't desperately need it.

We Have Some Control
As we get into this voting season, I realize that providence appears to be missing again for middle class and the poor. We are in a card game with a fixed deck. We look to our politicians and need to understand that at best they are human and at worst they are monsters. 

There are a lot of pro wealth, pro business, anti-constituent monsters in congress. In state and local government. And more trying to settle in. They come in the guise of "Lower Tax", "Smaller Government" and "Family Values". They come in the form of classism, thinking that anyone who considers social progress is lazy, a loser or stupid (they made the wrong choices and now want someone to bail them out).

They come in the form of the privileged, some who don't recognize their privilege and in those who think they should be privileged and somehow guarding that club will gain them entrance.

That is why it is necessary look beneath the skins of the politicians that they are championing. These people are looking to sell our government, turning current services into revenue generators (look at things like the post office, your toll roads, prisons, schools). The more they sell, the less voice we have in how they are run and the more they will cost us ultimately, making education exclusive rather than ubiquitous and pulling the net out from under the poor, the jobless, the homeless and seniors. 

Nothing wrong with pro-business until they sell off public ownership of water or right to information on the food we eat, or turn our jails into revenue farms that perpetuate inmate occupation.

We need affordable, comprehensive, medical insurance for everyone. We need to partner with other countries to make sure we all are good world citizens in every sense, and remember, we, along with a few other countries, have responsibility for a lot of what happen as our economies drive it. We need balance the invisible hand (the economic force) alone cannot deliver.

Providence only works in a reasonable climate, rarely in the desert. And our current system is being turned into a desert.

 ... We need to make this a representative government again... Make our own providence by voting the monsters out or keeping them out. Not just the presidency. At all levels. Do your research. Work for moderation and vote, vote, vote. This one is on us.