k_all_green_dashboard  k_X_power_descriptor

(This blogpost may need to be absorbed into the bubble-ball post, or the blackhole post)

Scope: This bpost is mostly (not strictly) about everyday stress, mini-storms, rather than disasters [swans or missteps]. This bpost is the twin sister of longPeace bpost.

I have this vague sense of carefree comfort zone or utopia. I need a better criteria for the _loss_ of this carefree feeling. Nowadays, I tend to spend half my time outside this comfort zone.

• One way to describe the situation is the bubble ball. When it bursts or derails we know we have lost the carefree feeling. We can call it mean time between bursts, but the criteria is very vague.
• another way to describe it is the relative calm between (often minor) storms. This metaphor is mentioned in ##bubble at risk@derail`] storms+blackholes
• A better characterization is the all-green big-brother dashboard. BigBrother is a system monitoring tool I used in 2001-2003. I remember it says if any system component has an issue, you will see some red or amber. If you find yourself in a sea of green then you are very lucky. When a sufficient number of reds show up, then we know we have lost the carefree /utopia/.

The most common stressors are

1. disasters/storms .. See the Scope statement
2. dissatisfaction blackholes ..
3. .. (involuntary?) benchmarking against arbitrary, unreasonable standards .. We are often encouraged, nudged, persuaded to compare with other people. Those trainers do that all the time.

A single stressor [like BMI or BGC title] is often “ring-fenced” thanks to my various white_blood_cells [resilience, self-esteem, stress prevention/reduction/protections,,,], but a random combination of stressors can often derail/burst my bubble and even threaten the “camel’s back“.

— CB2022 .. A hard lesson on MTBF .. Soon after publishing this blogpost, I hit the CB2022 disaster. We can call it a storm, a misstep or a swan event. My blissful carefree life, my Almost all-green dashboard suddenly turned into huge red. I’m forced to confront the bitter consequences of pro-active resignation from an extremely comfortable job, that I assumed to last a few years.

— passive acceptance ^ unrealistic utopia .. the balance
On one hand, we often have to accept that life is unpredictable so the all-green state is a utopian condition, unlikely to last very long.

On the other hand, we want to guard against passive Acceptance. We do want process-improvement for better quality control, put in place preventive systems/processes, and reduce if not eliminate recurring issues.

Perhaps a hidden support factor for the utopia is a sustained focus on the positive parts of my current life. When I become busy I usually focus on the problems that need System2 (including dissatisfaction blackholes) and therefore lose sight of the positives.