A Step or A Stop?

‘Everything comes to an end’ this is a fact of life and as we were created, ‘endings’ are a reminder of our limitations and that as we had a beginning we will have an end. 

We are surrounded with ‘endings’ all the time, even the words we hear. You hear football managers talk about: ‘at the end of the day, the lads did their best’ or your teacher will say: ‘by the end of the class you need to understand this process really well’, or your friends tell you to ‘hang in there, the end is near’ when you are having a tough time.

Endings are hard, ending a relationship, a job, leaving an old house or loosing someone as their life ends. And as we move from one thing to another we struggle with how to deal with this simple fact of life and in our way to deal with endings we either glorify the person/the event/the job or make a villain out it. So after loosing a job, we only bring up the worst in the boss, how bad it all was, how nasty people were and almost making it an evil cartoon character. On the other hand, after loosing a loved one we glorify them and brush aside all the negatives and make a saint out of them. We all do that as this is the only way we can deal with difficult endings.

But there is another way; we can look at endings as a STEP and not as a STOP. We can stop forever after the end of a relationship and never move on or we can look at the experience and learn from it all (good and bad) and move on with what we leaned. We can see it as a STEP in our development and life experience and remember the good times and don't let everything stops.

How do you look at every ending surrounding you? Finishing school, ending a contract with work, finishing a charity event, ending a relationship, the end of a holiday, etc? How do you see it? A step or a stop….you decide.

How...?

To blog or not to blog...

Fancy working as a tooth brush?

Crocodiles have the largest number of teeth in the whole animal kingdom. A salt water crocodile will have some 64 teeth and they have their teeth replaced throughout their life.  For centuries this little bird - called Plovers - worked as a very dedicated dental hygienist cleaning crocodiles teeth.

This little bird does a great job and I believe through the ages, they always knew the rules of engagement with this fierce creature. In one little move, this sweet little bird could be just a snack to Mr. Crocodile. One wrong pick, or nasty nip at the gum, and this cute bird is gone. But the bird is benefiting too, and both creatures are a perfect image of a balanced creation by a mighty God.

But thinking about it, the bird is providing a great service but he is not the boss (and I am sure he knows it). I can't imagine the bird showing off to his mates or teasing the crocodiles, 'Guys, I am the best tooth brush in the whole jungle, you have to do what I say'. I can't see him bossing the crocodile round and giving him orders. But this is the not the order we see around us. I see people providing services forgetting that they are "serving" people. The doctor, the policeman, the teacher, the politician, etc , they are all providing a great service but they forget where does the power lie. The power is with those you are serving, the power is with the people, not the government, the rulers or the political system.

2011 showed us so far that people power is bigger and stronger than we ever thought. Protests all around the world this year proved that power is not just with those who are in high office, have money or arms.

It is a great job serving in a position of authority, but remember that Mr. crocodile could close his eyes, could nod off a bit, could even pretend not to care but it will always let the little bird knows if it is not happy with the service !

Can we fix it?

So rarely I get my tool box out (yes, I do have a tool box), usually there is something needs fixing that I can not wait to get someone else to fix for me. So, I gather all my energy, get the tools out and I sit opposite whatever needs to be done.

I usually do my best bashing and hammering away and hope for the best. I usually get it done (in the end).

But in life, you find this great huge need to have 'I can fix it' attitude. So, you sit with a friend, chatting about the day and if you share a worry or a challenge, you always have few ideas, suggestions and solutions. This is good but I recently learned that not all of us are looking for quick answers or solutions to life's challenges. We simply want someone to listen, understand and move on. Just talking to a trusted person can make all the difference, not nesseserly to find an answer to a problem but to bring some order to the confusion.

So instead of adopting the moto of 'Can we fix it, Yes we can' I am choosing a different one:
Can we fix it, Yes we can but we are choosing to just listen for change!