Qk.ly: http://bit.ly/bsxChangez
The only man I know who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my measurements anew each time he sees me. The rest go on with their old measurements and expect me to fit them.
—George Bernard Shaw
One thing i was very impressed with Sammy, when i re-established contact with him on the Mandarin course, was how much he lives in the present. The net effect is that he's so comfortable with whatever's happening around him. When a situation crops up, all he says is that it is (there). So what do you do about it?
The other day, i was commenting on the aggressively obscene in-your-face ads in The Forum mall and whether it was for the good (you become immune to them) or bad (folks get more horny and aggressive). Sammy's response was:
There you go Again!which i shortened to TYGA (not the Russian one), to give me a knock on the head when i start this type of questioning :-)
He added that the only place where that sort of question (good or bad) makes sense is when you're designing something. For instance:
Should Blogger give an option to delete an entire blog?Of course, Dr. Spencer Johnson had written a bestseller with his lovely parable on change, Who Moved My Cheese? (download PDF).
Another person who embraced change as a way of life is Suzanne White. In Making Friends with Change, she writes: (it's so good that i quote the entire page)
I espouse change.You can email Suzanne.
I go after change. I seek it out. I hunt it down. I nose about like a truffle hound looking for change. And if I can’t find any, I sometimes make change happen.
Sometimes, when I don’t expect it, when change just up and happens, I do my best to welcome it.
Most people are inhabited by the familiar. They remain close to what is comfortable and stay with what is safe. They never color outside the lines. They work the same territory every day. They do their chores and pay their bills and take their holidays at the same time in the same places. That is the way they feel most secure.
Are they bored? Maybe. Yes. They might be bored. And they might complain of being bored. Did they choose boredom over change? Not really. Not consciously. But. come to think of it yes. It’s safer that way. Change might prove to be dangerous or at the very least uncomfortable. Many people fear discomfort and as a result they continue to resist change.
My so-called fascinating life is never safe. I guess I don’t believe in security. I know in the pit of my being that not one of us is ever safe … from illness, despair, loss, fear, poverty, sorrow, self-doubt or lies. We are but specks afloat in this vast universe; and if we don’t want to be bored and we don’t want to be disappointed and we don’t want to be depressed, we must make our own amusement. Fun is always there right under our noses. To create it, we must only dare to espouse change.
If I am today the author of five books and friends with people of all races, sizes, shapes, colors and professions, it’s largely because I am so cozy with change.
And were I advising a young person starting out, I would say, “Make it your business to live your life your way—even if it means crashing through screaming crowds of people who want you not to. Be selfish if you must. But be you.”
In keeping with this, here's my new look:
The best part was when both the kids said that i looked different and at least 10 years younger. Yahoo or should i say, Ms. Yahoo?!
The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.
