This Is Only A Minor Rip Off...

Ok, so maybe it's not exactly a rip off. Consider it a discussion group. (Um, with one member.)

There's a pretty cool book called The 24 Hour-Turnaround. The book doesn't tell you how to fix your relationship. It doesn't tell you how to make more money and it doesn't tell you how to have more friends. The book is about exploring what you want to be different in your own life, then taking the steps to accomplish that. I like that.

There are a lot of reasons why I really like this book. It's short, it's easy to read and it has 24 highly manageable chapters. (Each chapter is only about 5 short pages in length.) The point of the book is that you read a chapter a day, spend some time considering what you read that day, and each step takes you toward your goal.

In the hopes that I'm not going to get booted for talking very specifically about the book, I want to make this point upfront: Go buy the book. It costs six bucks new, and there are like, 68 for sale, used, at this moment at Amazon.com. Here's the link, I'll wait while you go order a copy.

Dum de dum... Twiddling the thumbs... Waiting oh so patiently...

Great.

I have to admit... As much as I like to read and as many books as I actually have, it's really pretty difficult for me to read one cover to cover. This one is easy.

"But I'm fine the way I am!"

Uh, ok. Yeah, we all are. I'm ok, you're ok. We're all ok. Me, personally, I'd like to be better than average. Regardless of how great I am, or think I am, or others may think I might be, I am always trying to improve myself. Of course, there are those who think I could improve on a thing or two. (Ok, I'll take that into consideration!) If you think you are perfect, this book isn't for you. But...

If you don't like the way your life is, and you wish it was different, then read on... The worst that can happen is you'll decide, "Nah... This isn't for me."

Not like it costs anything.

(Did you already buy the book for all of seven cents?)

This is the way I see it. I look back on the past year and I look ahead a year. Then I ask myself: Do I like where my life is at the moment? If I could look into a crystal ball and know it would be exactly the same as it is today, would I be overjoyed? Well, ok then...

When I look back on the past year, what do I wish I had done a year ago so my life would be different today? Because it is that very concept which will change my life a year from now.

Some many people are afraid of change. Actually I'll talk about that in the first day, hour, chapter or whatever. the next blog post. (This is simply an introduction.) I personally think that there are a few problems when it comes to people and when they look at their life and know they need a change or changes.

I think first, people don't think that big changes are urgent. Going back to college, changing careers, starting a new relationship or ending an old one... Big changes seem like big tasks and since life has been tolerable with the whatever, what is the rush? So many people who want to return to college get into this rut. They want to go back but they are already employed, so what's the point? Just to get a better job? "There's no rush." They say...

It's precisely this thought process that turns babies into teenagers. It turns a part time job into a career. And it turns a one-night stand into a marriage and then a divorce.

I am very close to someone who had a part time job flipping burgers as a teen. Many years later he is still in the food industry. My understanding is that it was almost by accident. He happens to be an exceptional golfer...

I have another friend who went to college to learn about a science which he found fascinating. A few years later he had to make a decision that meant either being practical or following his dream. He took the practical route, and today he still has not returned to the industry that he wishes has been a part of his life.

Me, I have my own regrets. When I went to college I really wanted to study art. Following the advice of caring family members, I decided that psychology was a more lucrative goal. I dropped out of college and now, twenty years later, I am re-entering the art field, calling upon schools and contacts in the creative field. If only I had decided just a year ago to go back to school I would be doing what I want today.

I have one dear friend who has been in a relationship for three years with a man not willing to make a commitment to her. Last year her ex-husband met, fell in love with, and married another woman, all while she was waiting for her sometimes-boyfriend to come to his senses. The day her ex-husband got married, she came to her senses instead. Although she has been dating off and on since then, she still isn’t in a steady relationship. But at least she’s open to meeting a different Mr. Right, which is a very big change from a year ago. She looked back and said ‘’I don’t want to be where I am now, a year from now.’’ I guess she wanted a change, too.

As for me, there are many things I wish I would have changed a year ago to make my life different today. I mentioned art school, but to be honest, art school is not the most significant thing I would have done differently. There was a relationship that I really screwed up last year. I wish I could have done things differently with that. The bad thing about regret is that we can't turn back time, but the good thing is we can change the path of our future.

So, getting back on track here, change is a good thing. Change is about living, not death. All living things going through change, it is the only way that they can improve. Consider a broken bone or torn flesh. It must go through change in order to repair. If you think about it, it is what happened to it which was painful. It was the hit or the cut that the body had no control over, and created the problem. The lack of control created the circumstance necessitating the change, the change of mending. But it's when the necessary mending, the change, was initiated that the healing begins.

I said a lot more than I meant to tonight. I'm not sure of why-- Maybe someone needed to hear what I had to say. Or maybe I just had things I needed to say. Either way, I hope you will continue to read this blog, and I hope you will offer your comments, and participate in the days to come.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this all turns out. I don't know about you,
but I could really use a change!

:)