Thursday, July 3, 2008

Attitude

There is plenty to be said about attitude, but I won't say much of it today. What I will say is that it was clear to me this morning, as I complained about my current circumstances, that my bad attitude wasn't helping the situation. It was making it worse. I was poisoning those around me.

I like to be around those that have a sunny disposition. When you realize that you are not the kind of person you like to be around, it is time to change.

The somewhat trite phrase

Attitude determines Altitude
has a fair amount of truth. Clearly things are not that simple, but attitude is a huge factor in how successful you will be.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Necessary Change

I have always been resistant to external changes. Some might think I'm set in my ways. It is mostly true. I have a core need to better myself and improve, but I want to do that on my own terms, not on the schedule of others.
I would also say that I am not very good at making those internal changes. Most people find this difficult, I suppose, so if that is the case, I find myself squarely in the category of Most People. Like Most People, I have the tendency to get worse, not better, as I slide back towards mediocrity.
But that is not what this article is about.

It is about the necessity of change.

I remember my days of working for big government. We were required multiple times a year to go to trainings where we were taught that change is good. I had heard that statement from many people, many times. I know now what I knew then; change is not good.
That doesn't mean it is bad, either. Change, as a generic label, is neutral. Give me the specifics of the change and we can start to talk about assigning it to either category.
There is one statement about change that I love because it rings of veracity.
Change is not necessarily improvement, but to improve you must change.

Those are true words. That which doesn't change deteriorates. The world is in motion with many forces working upon us. If we want to act upon the world instead if just being acted upon, we must go through the painful process of improvement.