Changes

Excerpted from Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes into Stepping Stones for Success by John C. Maxwell, ©2000 (via)

People change in four different seasons:
When they hurt enough they have to.
When they see enough they are inspired to.
When they learn enough that they want to.
And when they receive enough that they are able to.

It Would Look Like

"For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone.  The shell cracks, its insides come out and everything changes.  To someone who doesn't understand growth, it would look like complete destruction."  ~Cynthia Occelli

Ephiphany

Vontae Davis retired from football unexpectedly, in the middle of a game (source): 

"I went to the bench after that series and it just hit me:  I don't belong on that field anymore.
 
"Leaving was therapeutic.  I left everything the league wanted me to be-- playing for my teammates while injured, the gladiator mentality-- it all just popped. And when it popped, I just wanted to leave it all behind. So that's why I don't care what people say. That experience was personal and not meant for anyone else to understand. It was me cold turkey leaving behind an identity that I carried with me for so long."

 
It's rare to have an epiphany like that.  Usually realizations creep in more slowly.

They Kept Going

 

 

(Click to Imbiggen)

Changes

In an article for The Atlantic titled "When You Can’t Change the World, Change Your Feelings," author Arthur C. Brooks writes:

Between the conditions around you and your response to them is a space. In this space, you have freedom. You can choose to try remodeling the world, or you can start by changing your reaction to it.

He goes on to give some very realistic and down-to-earth advice on how to do just that.

You can read the whole article online HERE.

shh

shhh, it's fine is on the web HERE.  The artist has chosen to remain anonymous.

It isn't really a "comic" in the traditional sense.  It's more like illustrated commentary.  I think its wonderful.

Many Times

"The water in the stream may have changed many times, but the reflection of the moon and the stars remains the same.” ~Rumi

Change

In 1955 John Wyndham published a novella titled The Chrysalids in the UK and Re-Birth in America.  It is not a religious text.  It is about post-apocalyptic mutants.

But it's also one of the best books about change-- the inevitability of change and resistance to change-- that I've read in a long time.  It really helped me to understand the times we're living in.

The book is available online from The Z-Library Project, HERE.

Changes

Adolf Hitler wasn't born evil, he became evil.

He didn't always want to be a dictator. When they left him alone, he wanted to be a painter.

Then World War I happened. He was drafted and assigned the job of litter-bearer, and spent the next several years searching among anguished and mutilated bodies for the wounded ones who might still have a chance to be saved at hospital.

Sometimes there weren't any.

That experience would change anybody. It changed him.

I wonder sometimes about my own future. Will my present or future circumstances change me into something I don't want to be? How much can I control my own destiny?

And did a young Adolph have these thoughts?

MLK Day

When Malcom X returned from his pilgrimage to Mecca, he said basically, "You know what? I have met some new people, had some new experiences, and I have changed my mind."

That's a very brave and rare thing for anyone, and unheard of for a public figure. Can you name another off the top of your head?  Can you name a single politician who said, "Hmm, maybe I'm wrong?"

Most people will go to great lengths, stretching logic to the breaking point, to avoid changing their minds.  Pride gets in the way, and it becomes more important to win the argument than it is to be right.

So today, as you remember the bravery and persistence of the Civil Rights leaders, take a few minutes to appreciate the ordinary people who quietly saw what was going on, didn't like it, and changed their minds.

It's hard to admit it when we're wrong. It's hard to adapt to a new way of doing things.

The people who did so deserve a little credit, too.

Harrowing

"The great suffering now-a-days is undoubtedly harrowing the ground for the planting of seed. But it does not yet fully appear as to just what kind of seeds will be planted."  ~Henry A. Wallace, 1932

Our house, is a very very very fine house…

I had a very vivid dream a few nights ago, about houses.

My first house was a tacky 70s aesthetic, filled with lots of vinyl furniture.  It was kind of ugly, but functional.  Vinyl furniture is uncomfortable on hot days, but easy to clean.

I left and came back, and it had been transformed into a movie theater.  Everyone knew me, but I had to wait in line to get a glass of Pepsi.  It was warm inside.  There was carpet.

I left and came back, and it had been transformed into a two-story house filled with fishing gear.  It had wooden walls and floors, and a second story balcony.  It was beautiful.  I never wanted it to change-- but it did.

I left and came back, and now it was an auditorium filled with relatives.  A family reunion was going on.  Some people I hadn't seen in years, some had even passed on, but they were all there enjoying each others company.  The light was yellow...

I've been reading a lot Buddhist texts about change, so I suppose it's not unusual that my subconscious would create its own metaphor.  Maybe I'm trying to tell myself something.

Change is going to come rapidly to my life.  Some changes I'll enjoy, many I won't.

But it is inevitable.  The best strategy will be to make the most of whatever house I find myself in, while remaining aware that tomorrow's house may be very, very different.