January 24, 2016
The old Glass Half Full / Glass Half Empty, Optimist / Pessimist meme:
Lately I've been thinking a lot about this. I've come to realize it isn't just about ideals. It's about habits.
Of course we all know Optimism is "the right answer", that we should all try to be optimistic. But in my life, I have met a lot of people who, while they may espouse optimism, are by deeds pessimists. Indeed, the ones who are most vocal about optimism are often, in reality, the least optimistic.
They're vocal because they're preaching to themselves, dissociating, displacing, and projecting. They talk about what they need, not necessarily what they have.
The experience can be very confusing because, since they espouse Optimism, we presume we're dealing with optimists, that everybody is on the same page. The reality can be that they're disguised pessimists, posers, pretenders, wolves in sheep's clothing. To know whether someone is really an optimist, it's necessary to look beyond words, to deeds.
I've come to notice how we view the glass through the lens of our habits: if you're a producer or a giver, if you're habitually providing, replenishing, and refilling, then of course the glass appears half full to you. On the other hand, if you're a consumer or a taker, if you're habitually depleting or using up (did you know that "abuse" means "use up"?), then it appears half empty.
I've also noticed that the real optimists aren't talking about optimism or pessimism, whether the glass is half full or half empty, because producing, providing, replenishing, and adding is a lot of work. They're too busy working to participate in such discussions.
So it isn't really about Pessimism or Optimism. It's about consuming or producing, depleting or replenishing, taking or giving, subtracting or adding, abusing or nourishing, deficit or surplus, loss or profit.
It's about habits. More than professed ideals, our habits determine how we REALLY see the glass.
Kris Freeberg, Economist
Making End$ Meet
The old Glass Half Full / Glass Half Empty, Optimist / Pessimist meme:
Lately I've been thinking a lot about this. I've come to realize it isn't just about ideals. It's about habits.
Of course we all know Optimism is "the right answer", that we should all try to be optimistic. But in my life, I have met a lot of people who, while they may espouse optimism, are by deeds pessimists. Indeed, the ones who are most vocal about optimism are often, in reality, the least optimistic.
They're vocal because they're preaching to themselves, dissociating, displacing, and projecting. They talk about what they need, not necessarily what they have.
The experience can be very confusing because, since they espouse Optimism, we presume we're dealing with optimists, that everybody is on the same page. The reality can be that they're disguised pessimists, posers, pretenders, wolves in sheep's clothing. To know whether someone is really an optimist, it's necessary to look beyond words, to deeds.
I've come to notice how we view the glass through the lens of our habits: if you're a producer or a giver, if you're habitually providing, replenishing, and refilling, then of course the glass appears half full to you. On the other hand, if you're a consumer or a taker, if you're habitually depleting or using up (did you know that "abuse" means "use up"?), then it appears half empty.
I've also noticed that the real optimists aren't talking about optimism or pessimism, whether the glass is half full or half empty, because producing, providing, replenishing, and adding is a lot of work. They're too busy working to participate in such discussions.
So it isn't really about Pessimism or Optimism. It's about consuming or producing, depleting or replenishing, taking or giving, subtracting or adding, abusing or nourishing, deficit or surplus, loss or profit.
It's about habits. More than professed ideals, our habits determine how we REALLY see the glass.
Kris Freeberg, Economist
Making End$ Meet
These guys have it!
Here is Aesop's fable about the Ant and the Grasshopper. It turns out many of us are grasshoppers who could use a little help getting in touch with our "Inner Ant." For help getting in touch with your "Inner Ant", please contact us.
LEANING INTO CHALLENGES
Facebook post 11/17/2024
I have occasion to reflect on "leaning in" experiences I've had over the last decade or so.
I wanted to find a good woman, so I spent 3,000 hours leaning into a deliberate global search. I literally cast a global net. It was work, almost a full time job. More about that later.
When I decided to take on the challenge of inheriting a neglected 110 year old encumbered property, I leaned into it. Once I made that decision, I shelved all other goals until further notice and focused only on preparing to receive and steward that property. One important step was organizing the workshop because I knew I'd need the tools and work area to catch up on deferred maintenance. I spent 800 hours cleaning and organizing that one space.
When I realized the garage was a liability that could be an asset if I leaned into the challenge, I did so. Now what was an avalanche risk is a happy place, a man cave or club house of sorts, complete with a motorized door.
I encounter others who practice avoidance when they encounter challenges. I find myself saying to them, "lean into it."
In all of what I've read about success, one consistent piece of advice I've noticed is to manage your energy well and tackle the hardest challenge first, then the rest of the day will be easier. Don't avoid it or put it off; tackle it head on.
For example, technology. Perhaps you have told yourself that you're not a "computer person" and that you hire other people to deal with computer details . . . kind of like the executives of yore who refused to touch a keyboard because they thought it was "women's work" for the secretary pool. Hence the invention of the mouse. Did you know that?
The mouse was a work-around to accommodate people who did not want to lean in to the challenge of working with a keyboard. Now, who doesn't work with a keyboard?
When I encountered my first word processing program (Wordstar), I was angry because learning to use it was challenging. Likewise with Dbase, which was just a blank screen with a dot prompt. Also, Lotus 1-2-3, my first experience with a spreadsheet. All maddening experiences that I resisted and resented initially.
But I leaned into the challenge and now spreadsheets, databases, and word processing programs are a way of life, as natural as breathing.
When I had cancer, I leaned into the challenge of surviving it. I cleared the decks and said to myself, well, there goes a year or so. For the next year my only project is coping with cancer. So I made it to every medical appointment and followed whatever directions I was given, including injecting myself with a needle and changing my own bandages every day.
Now I'm aging. I'll be 61 this month, on Thanksgiving Day. In the year I was born, 1963, it was also Thanksgiving. My grandmother called me her Thanksgiving Grandson. I ruined everyone's thanksgiving dinner because I was born right around dinner time. When it was all over my aunts and uncles brought my mom a plate.
So I'm leaning into aging. I see content on social media about ways to appear younger than you are. I say no thanks, I am going to lean into aging. I'm going to embrace maturity and dignity, not avoid it.
And I am ready to meet my Maker. I'm not afraid. I will not avoid that (as if anyone could). When it's time to go, it's time to go; and I will be glad to see God face to face because peering dimly at Him through this murky mortal veil has always been frustrating for me.
When the time comes, I will lean into death itself. Gladly! What a relief it will be!
But I have people in my life who don't lean in. They avoid. They postpone. They choose easy. If it doesn't appear quick and easy, they don't want to do it.
And they lose.
They wind up stuck in a loop that, if they would just slow down and take the time to learn something new, lean in to the challenge, they could escape. It's a prison of ignorance and incapacity.
But getting them to slow down, pay attention, and learn something new, has been very difficult for me.
This post is yet another attempt.
You know who you are.
If the shoe fits, wear it.
I wanted to find a good woman, so I spent 3,000 hours leaning into a deliberate global search. I literally cast a global net. It was work, almost a full time job. More about that later.
When I decided to take on the challenge of inheriting a neglected 110 year old encumbered property, I leaned into it. Once I made that decision, I shelved all other goals until further notice and focused only on preparing to receive and steward that property. One important step was organizing the workshop because I knew I'd need the tools and work area to catch up on deferred maintenance. I spent 800 hours cleaning and organizing that one space.
When I realized the garage was a liability that could be an asset if I leaned into the challenge, I did so. Now what was an avalanche risk is a happy place, a man cave or club house of sorts, complete with a motorized door.
I encounter others who practice avoidance when they encounter challenges. I find myself saying to them, "lean into it."
In all of what I've read about success, one consistent piece of advice I've noticed is to manage your energy well and tackle the hardest challenge first, then the rest of the day will be easier. Don't avoid it or put it off; tackle it head on.
For example, technology. Perhaps you have told yourself that you're not a "computer person" and that you hire other people to deal with computer details . . . kind of like the executives of yore who refused to touch a keyboard because they thought it was "women's work" for the secretary pool. Hence the invention of the mouse. Did you know that?
The mouse was a work-around to accommodate people who did not want to lean in to the challenge of working with a keyboard. Now, who doesn't work with a keyboard?
When I encountered my first word processing program (Wordstar), I was angry because learning to use it was challenging. Likewise with Dbase, which was just a blank screen with a dot prompt. Also, Lotus 1-2-3, my first experience with a spreadsheet. All maddening experiences that I resisted and resented initially.
But I leaned into the challenge and now spreadsheets, databases, and word processing programs are a way of life, as natural as breathing.
When I had cancer, I leaned into the challenge of surviving it. I cleared the decks and said to myself, well, there goes a year or so. For the next year my only project is coping with cancer. So I made it to every medical appointment and followed whatever directions I was given, including injecting myself with a needle and changing my own bandages every day.
Now I'm aging. I'll be 61 this month, on Thanksgiving Day. In the year I was born, 1963, it was also Thanksgiving. My grandmother called me her Thanksgiving Grandson. I ruined everyone's thanksgiving dinner because I was born right around dinner time. When it was all over my aunts and uncles brought my mom a plate.
So I'm leaning into aging. I see content on social media about ways to appear younger than you are. I say no thanks, I am going to lean into aging. I'm going to embrace maturity and dignity, not avoid it.
And I am ready to meet my Maker. I'm not afraid. I will not avoid that (as if anyone could). When it's time to go, it's time to go; and I will be glad to see God face to face because peering dimly at Him through this murky mortal veil has always been frustrating for me.
When the time comes, I will lean into death itself. Gladly! What a relief it will be!
But I have people in my life who don't lean in. They avoid. They postpone. They choose easy. If it doesn't appear quick and easy, they don't want to do it.
And they lose.
They wind up stuck in a loop that, if they would just slow down and take the time to learn something new, lean in to the challenge, they could escape. It's a prison of ignorance and incapacity.
But getting them to slow down, pay attention, and learn something new, has been very difficult for me.
This post is yet another attempt.
You know who you are.
If the shoe fits, wear it.
