a change in attitude

the older i get, the less anger i feel about things and the more sorrow i feel about them.

or as virgil wrote -- lacramae rerum.

the term comes from the aeneid. aeneas, the hero of the epic poem, looks at a mural in a temple in carthage. it depicts battles of the trojan war and deaths of his friends and countrymen.

as he looks at the mural, he cries because he is overcome by the futility of warfare and waste of human life. then he says: sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt. translated from latin, it says: these are tears for events and mortal things touch the soul.

as i think about it, i don't know if my feelings come from:

• a mix of age and experience.
• a mix of knowledge and wisdom.
• a drop in testosterone.
• thoughts that usually come at this time, during the end of the year, when daytime is short and nighttime is long.

right now, i'll say a little bit of everything listed above add to it. but i'll have to think about it.

this applies to the serious things in life. as for the less serious things, the smaller things, the more trivial things and the futility within them ... well, check my posts labeled humor; it's no coincidence that it has the most references in my blog.