#HappyNewYear #changes #vote #elections
Most of us look at a new calendar year as a time to reflect on what’s good in our lives, and examine what we need to change.
The coming year could be one of big changes worldwide.
How we vote in the upcoming year could be extremely consequential. Regardless of your opinions on various candidates and issues, it is extremely important for EVERYONE to vote. For some, it could be the difference between life and death. For others, it’s our best way to change what we want changed, though, to paraphrase what the Rolling Stones have sung, we don’t always get everything we want.
Still, you have to participate if you are eligible. It should be as critical a task as anything you do in life.
But, aside from voting, what else do you need to do this year?
To determine that, first figure out what you want from life. Is your life good now? If so, marvelous. If not, what needs to change?
Are there things you can do to make a good life even better? Are there things you must do to make a not-so-good life good?
Circumstances befall all. But circumstances do not, or should not, dictate outcomes. Bad circumstances can turn into good outcomes with thought, hard work and a good attitude.
We all tend to blame bad things on other people or things. Blaming takes energy, and zaps emotional strength from everyone. Generally, it’s counterproductive.
It is not what happened to you that matters. It’s how you react to it that determines your life.
Dwell less on things you can’t control and focus on things you can control. Yes, some would be amazed, when they think about it, how much of their lives is in their control.
We also tend to presume the worst, When bad things happen, we may think we can never recover. Or, we may tend to think that things will only get worse.
Sometimes, optimism requires work. You may have to look for the pony who produced the pile of manure. You may have to be open to new ideas, and new ways of doing things.
You also may have to accept some outcomes. If you get injured or ill, you must work to get better. If someone close to you dies, you must grieve in your own way, then find a way to move past your grief. Some grief lingers for a lifetime, but you can face that grief each time, and still live the rest of your life. It requires strength that many may need to acquire.
To quote from Queen’s lyric from “We Are the Champions,” life often is no bed of roses or pleasure cruise.
It may come with serious thorns or turbulence. But, as people, we are strong. We can face adversity without wallowing in pity and blame.
It takes effort. It takes work. It takes determination. It takes persistence.
So, this year, show that strength. Vote if you are eligible. Show that if you are slapped down, you get up and move forward.
Happy New Year!
Peter
Tag Archives: changes
UNCERTAINTY AND ANSWERS
#uncertainty #answers #life #changes #preparation
To paraphrase a Mayo Clinic TV ad, the best way to deal with uncertainty is to have answers.
On its face, this implies a black-and-white type of world.
Or, it implies there is an answer for everything.
But most of us are aware that there are many shades of gray. Not everything is what it seems. And, for some things, there are no answers – at least definitively right ones.
The world is filled with uncertainty. One might even say that things we thought were “certain” may not be.
Opportunity can be disguised as uncertainty. Alas, so can peril.
The Mayo Clinic may work diligently for answers to some uncertainties. It has a pretty good track record for doing that.
But other uncertainties persist, not just in science and medicine. They persist in the everyday world, and our everyday lives.
For example, one may think his or her job is a certainty. But, companies reorganize. Managers change. Something that for many years was a certainty suddenly, without warning, is not.
What do we do about uncertainty?
First, we have to presume it is always there. Always presume that someday, sometime, something you thought was certain will suddenly become less so.
That may be difficult to do, especially in times when things in your life are going well.
On the other hand, it can be easy to do when things in your life are not going as well.
An old adage goes: “Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”
The key word here is PREPARE. Try to have a Plan B, just in case what you thought was certain suddenly is not.
Most importantly, try to deal with sudden uncertainly with rational thought, instead of emotion.
We are all emotional about some things, but, when uncertainty hits, we should take a breath before deciding what to do next.
That breath – that time for thought – could make the difference between doing the right thing for you, and not doing the right thing.
It may be easy to react emotionally. It may not be as easy to react rationally.
Secondly, look for something good amid sudden uncertainty. Most likely, the thing that’s uncertain may only be a part of your life. There may be other parts of your life that give you pleasure, and may be more certain at the moment.
Sometimes, there may not be immediate answers to your new uncertainty. Therefore, you may have to look harder to find more certainty.
Death and taxes may be certain. The rest of life is very likely less certain. If something in your life suddenly becomes uncertain, you may not have an immediate answer. Searches for answers can be a lifelong pursuit, not just for the Mayo Clinic, but for all of us.
Presume there is more uncertainty in your life than you realize. That way, when the uncertainty is revealed, you may have a wider variety of potential answers.
Peter
CLIMATE CHANGING THE WAY WE LIVE
#ClimateChange #weather #floods #heat
There are fires in places that almost never burn.
There is extremely hot weather setting records in places that don’t usually get hot.
There are floods in places that don’t usually flood.
There’s even cold weather in places that never get cold.
No matter how you cut it, our climate is changing. We have to figure out exactly why, and what we can do to fix it. Science points to fossil fuels and industrialization as a cause. We want to keep being industrious, but we need to find different ways to do it.
If we don’t, peril will persist. Life as we knew it will be gone.
Weather, once unpredictable, is now pretty predictable. Still, no one could see the unexpected weather in many parts of the world. It’s not just the unexpected. Expected, predictable events are becoming worse than predicted.
For example, one can predict wildfires in California. But recent fires have been far more frequent and devastating, and less seasonal, than in the past. (If only we could move water from places that have too much of it, to places that don’t have enough.)
Also, one can predict triple-digit heat in Texas in the summer. But one never expects triple digit heat in Canada, forcing a British Columbia town to burn up.
Think of what triple-digit heat would do if it reached as far north as the Arctic. Even the final round of the Open golf championship in England saw record warmth for that locale (though it was actually a pleasant 80 degrees).
These changes may force people to rethink careers, where they live and how they should prepare for the unknown.
There are some disasters for which there is no possible preparation. But, for many, doing the right thing beforehand can mitigate damage, injury or loss of life.
Most important of all, we must act soon to determine the long-term global actions that will need to occur. As individuals, we can prepare as best we can to save our own lives and possessions. But, as a world, we have to take large-scale measures to mitigate these changes.
Some will sit back and let nature take its course. One does that at his or her peril.
If our actions as humans contributed to these events, our actions as humans can mitigate them.
Just as we can prepare as individuals to protect ourselves and our things, we can also prepare to change things that either aren’t going well in our lives, or are not sustainable in our lives for the long term.
Is what you are doing the thing you want to be doing? Have you thought about what might be if you did something else? Are you looking for something that would change your circumstances potentially exponentially for the better?
There are many programs that can help you do that, even without having to give up – at least for now — what you are already doing. No specific education, background or experience is required. As a bonus, they can be done regardless of the climate you live in.
To check out one of the best such programs, message me.
In summary, prepare for what you can predict. Presume what you predict will be worse than you believe. Throw in some preparedness for things you don’t expect to happen. Engage with the world to mitigate nature’s changes.
Don’t sit back and wait for things to get better. They probably won’t, unless you (and we) act.
Peter