Philosophizing toe injuries

Three days ago, I slipped when I tried to chase that damn feral cat did a heroic deed and managed to hurt my right toe. Naturally, I overthought the accident. Until I came to an understanding about privileges in life.

I think I began the question long time ago. There was this TV character I encountered when I was a kid. The basic plot, as I vaguely remember, tells the main character’s mission to avenge something I don’t remember. In order to succeed, he needs to master this incredible power. The downside: the power can only be mastered by blind people.

The main character decides to get his own eyes blinded (he stabbed his eyes, if I am not mistaken).

It didn’t make any sense to me. How would blind eyes make a better fighter? Or was it really worth it? I still think it’s irrational and unreasonable. But now, at least to some extent, I get the basic working of the philosophical argument.

Privileges weaken us, not the other way around. If we are healthy and strong, we tend to take things for granted and there is a constant sense that there is always another day to do things. Why not, things feel easy, there’s no need to rush. Or if we’re wealthy and money is never a problem, we take decisions relatively free from fear of mistakes.

A friend of mine is a good driver. But because he paid a sum of money for car insurance, he suddenly became reckless and almost once a month got bad scratches or even broke a wing mirror. Privileges cause moral hazard just like insurance.

So I got my right toe injured. It took literally (meant as figuratively) an hour just to move from bedroom to bathroom. I lost the privilege of mobility. (Yes, mobility is a privilege. In fact, everything could be a privilege. I’ll argue elaborately about this another time).

And when mobility became a luxury, came the economy of everything. I calculated every move before getting up. Before I struggled to move, I made a mental list of things I needed to do on the way there. I became very efficient.

Also, with limited movement, came the opportunity to work without distraction. I’d just be satisfied spending the day sitting in front of the computer and finishing my work just to kill time. I became effective in doing my work.

That’s all, though. I need to stop before I become motivational and start to say things like changing a mindset to see problems as opportunities, or being grateful with everything we get in life or whatnot. Too much positive thinking in one short article.