Archive for February 19th, 2005

One of the intentions of this blog/journal is to not only share my experiences, observations and challenges, but to also encourage the reader to make positive changes to their lives — or at least give it a shot. Your changes might not be as drastic as moving a family across the country. It could be spending more time with your family, trying a new sport or hobby, or taking on a challenging project. But all these are new things that sometimes are easier to talk about instead of actually putting into practice. And sometimes change involves loss or the possibility of failure. I believe it is those two components that tend to paralize us into resisting change. Throw in fear of the unknown and you have a recipe for keeping things the same…..even if they suck. I find it ironic that change (and death and taxes) are the only sure things in life but we, as humans, are so resistant to something we know is always going to happen. And we have to be careful not to make change just to make change (unless it is redecorating a room in your house). True positive change is something that you have assessed, made a decision on and acted upon, integreting into your life until the change is the new norm. You will then reap the benefits of that positive change. The key is to be flexible to changes that are unexpected and you cannot control in addition to keeping your eye open for opportunities and areas where you can take control and make positive change. You are separating stimulus from response. Things are always going to happen. It is your response to those changes that you can control. People not in tune with this concept just react. People in control of their lives, emotions and actions respond, rather than react, with appropriate actions that will benefit them or at least minimize repercussions.

What you can do is determine what is important to you in your life, assess the positive changes you can make and implement them. Kinda like finding the secret formula that works for you. I brushed the topic a few months ago in this post — Values and Finances — and again I encourage you to go out, find the formula that works for you and put it into action. If you keep putting it off til tomorrow, you will continue to lose the benefits you could gain today.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net