What I learnt today #2

Tuesday 09 October 2012

In my determined mindset of posting to my blog daily, I will continue to share something I’ve learnt for the day, however small.

I decided to wear a long sleeved shirt to work today, in preparation for a 2-hour class I have on Tuesdays after work for the next 5 weeks. I did this because the class is usually cold. Not uncomfortably so, but I decided to err on the side of caution and play it 'safe'. I know right? Because our hospitals cannot cope with the influx of frostbite cases due to A/C units set on '17'. Yes I know, all you people who have boarded a flight and gone somewhere in February, Trinidad and Tobago is never 'cold'. 

I have no idea why I considered this air-conditioned room any colder than the one in which I spend practically 8 hours a day sometimes. One in which I am perfectly comfortable wearing a thin, short sleeved cotton shirt. But I had to wear a long sleeved shirt today. Have you ever tried to iron a long sleeved shirt? It’s impossible.

Wearing a past-the-elbow sleeved shirt today has uncovered the following:

•  Trinidad is not the place for clothes that inhibit, in any way, natural ventilation of the skin to allow perspiration to evaporate. The evolution of the human body in devising such a simple and elegant way to regulate body temperature should be respected. I cannot imagine why people wear apparel designed for temperate climates in our twin island state, only 10 degrees off the equator.

•  I somehow placed more emphasis on a two hour period, in the cooler evening, than the 8-hours of regular scheduled programming at the office which have the potential of consisting entirely of sweltering site-visits.

Sometimes the doldrums of daily life tend to relegate reoccurring events to the ranks of background noise, which we naturally ignore to a point. Any event which breaks this routine has an elevated importance or significance, even if its duration is very short in relation to our forecasted day. This is done to our detriment at times.

We must pay attention to, and be mindful of, the importance we place on events relative to others. In question the reasoning we place a higher importance on particular events; we may learn something about our own perceptions. What have some of your perceptions taught you?

In my case, my perceptions resulted in sweaty arms. Particularly in the area I will refer to as the 'arm crack', i.e. that crease between the forearm and bicep. Yes, I had a sweaty arm crack today due to my warped perceptions.