Get busy living or get busy dying

In 2011, the evidence of how businesses have fallen by the way side are all around us. While unavoidable economic hardship may be the culprit, many of their failures are no more than a lack of innovation. At one time they were on top and thriving! Yet, like all living things, unless it innovates and rejuvenates it will then begin the process of dying. As the line goes in the movie the Shawshank Redemption, "Get busy living or get busy dying." The dilemma is that while humans are naturally dreamers and creators, we are also addicted to predictability. The reason being is that predictability provides a well known landscape for our daily living. While you may not be content with it, at least you know it. Knowing something well then provides a sense of confidence and comfort. The irony of this mindset is that knowing something so well that it lacks all creative breath is fundamental to a presumptive life of perpetual motion. Get busy dying.  

Are we writing in sand?

photo source: Claudine Zap

Last week I read a story of an extremely wealthy Arab sheikh who spent his money having a crew dig  ditches in a sand peninsula so that the ditches would form the letters of his name. Now plenty of us have enjoyed casually drawing our name in the sand, however the difference with this attempt at significance is that the sheikh made sure the ditches were so large that his name could be read from space! To be so rich that you can waste money on digging your name in sand only to be washed away is an absurdity to most.  Having the will and resources to pull off such a task is something that most of us will never have to ponder. However, before we rush to criticize with such impunity, it does beg the question if we are unknowingly spending large amounts of time and treasure in other not-so-obvious activities that are essentially just writing in the sand? 

Breaking Through

"Reaching Our Full Potential" by Elsa Mora

Win Today!

Victor

Crisis of comparison?

Reality TV, walls, reunions, and top ten lists.  All modern day measuring sticks to let us know if we are doing ok. If we see someone else of similar background or measure doing worse off than ourselves we may feel empowered about our current condition. Conversely, if we fail by comparison, we may feel defeated. As narcissistic and even ridiculous as this may sound, it is a common theme that commentaries are beginning to observe in western culture. Can it be that the deep need for comparison is a symptom of something deeper?