Change happens. Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are. – Bertold Brecht
Change Direction.
No good to run hard, no need to push, if you are headed the wrong way.
Every morning, I walk the dog. We sniff every bush, every mailbox, every pole and we pee on almost all of them. Actually, the dog does. We greet every creature we come upon. And as is natural, he also takes a dump, usually two. He’s huge and he’s regular. Being a responsible dog owner, I pick up after him.
It’s the right thing to do.
One morning, this big, ugly, fat, loud, probably crazy woman comes out of the house, yelling at us.
She was possibly drunk; I know I’d start downing the sauce upon waking, if I was her.
Despite the fact I am holding two plastic bags of dog shit, she accused me of never picking up after my dog. She claimed to speak for all her neighbors, we weren’t welcome on her street.
Well, I checked with all her neighbors. Turns out they like my dog better than they like her. No surprise there.
Because I know people who know people, I asked a judge about a restraining order.
I’ll show that bitch, I’m thinking.
“Jack, Jack, Jack,” he sighs, as if he has more important legal matters to attend to, like a capital murder case or fixing his golf buddies’ parking tickets.
“Change your route.”
When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves. – Victor Frankl
Think Carefully Before You Change Something That’s Working.
We have four aquariums. Well, my wife does. A couple of these nautical environments are devoted to gold fish. We didn’t give much thought to the fact they poop in the water. Then there’s the algae. Suffice to say, the water gets, ummm, cloudy.
Finally, my bride can’t take it any more. We spend – again – far too much money on new equipment and trappings. She sequesters the fish to a holding tank, spends the afternoon carefully reconstructing their home and it looks great. Sparkling even.
The next morning. All the fish are dead. All but one, that is. The biggest fish – B.O.B – isn’t feeling so good, but at least he’s not floating on the surface. Like Ted and Carol and Alice and Adolf. Yes, they have names. And, in case you’re wondering, Adolf had a little black spot on his upper lip. You can do everything correctly and end up worse off than you were before.
All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward. – Ellen Glasgow
Watch For Changes.
The more things remain the same, the more they are likely to change sometime soon.
And you want to be ready, you want to be able to deal with the results of those changes.
Ideally, you want to be able to anticipate change in order to guide the results in a positive direction.
The revolution in Egypt comes to mind. Mubarak was an autocrat in power for thirty years. He was eightysomething, there were food shortages, a wave of independence was sweeping the Middle East. Do the math.
But Arab Spring didn’t make it to Christmas.
In the United States, there’s a raging pandemic, millions unemployed, gatrillions of dollars more debt, and the Prevaricator-In-Chief is teargassing mothers in the streets.
An eight o’clock curfew in South Beach, for goodness sakes.
Just because you don’t want something to change doesn’t mean it won’t.
A couple years ago, the Green Bay Packers were the new Super Bowl champions.
And Aaron Rodgers was the game’s MVP. This victory – and Rodger’s accomplishments – would never have been possible if the team’s management had not decided to jettison Brett Favre.
Quite often, the changes you make today to prepare for the future are far easier than the result if you defer change until it is inevitable and mandatory. Then change is often too late.
If you have to time your change, like timing the stock market, you will be better off changing too early rather than too late.
Too late and, in truth, the changes will be made for you.
Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights. – Pauline R. Kezer
Keep Changing.
If you are not improving, you are getting worse. When you stop trying, you are dieing.
If your first change doesn’t work, change it.
The aquariums are now crystal clear. No more goldfish. Water is now heated and Lennie & Squiggy and Crimson & Clover are doing just fine.
The wife is happy. So’s B.O.B.
Things alter for the worse spontaneously, if they be not altered for the better designedly. – Francis Bacon
Embrace Change.
If you don’t like something, change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. – Mary Engelbreit
Change Is Not Always Progress.
Sometimes the results might not be what you expected or hoped for. Beware the ripple effects. What changes does change make?
Change happens: don’t deny it. If you are fortunate, every day you are older. That’s a change. Then one day you are not. Another change.
One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over after you know it won’t work.
One definition of stupidity might be doing the same thing over and over thinking it will always work.
If it ain’t broke, you don’t have to fix it… now.
But keep your tools handy.
It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory. – W. Edwards Deming
