Change The Music
I have to start listening to the conversations around me at the gym more often. The other day I heard one guy say to another, “Just when you learn to dance, they change the music.”
I had no idea what they were talking about, but his line struck me.
Seems, in life, the music’s always changing. Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher, is credited with saying “Change is the only constant in life.” So, here’s the question: “How do we dance around change?
We could go with the old axioms: “the only away around is through,” or “suck it up,” or we can even quote Jack Nicholson as the Joker in Batman: “Did you ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?”
But upon reflection, there seems to be a more reliable remedy: Respond vs. react.
We’re conditioned to react to change. The problem with reactions is that they always lead to the same place: the same place. If we want to learn some new dance steps, we have to learn to respond.
Reminds me of a personal learning experience. In the past, when I attempted something simple that didn’t turn out so well, I would react by cursing my behavior and go on a mini rant about how inept I was. Let’s say I was filling up the pepper shaker and wasn’t paying close attention, so I overfilled it and the excess spread out all over the counter. I would then bring out my old Navy language and castigate myself between sneezes, or maybe even try to blame the pepper manufacturer with my tirade. That was a reaction that sent me into a tailspin.
Somewhere along the line, I got the gift of awareness to interrupt that reactive type behavior and, instead, chose to laugh at my mishap. I would poke fun at myself and say something like, “what a dumbass” and laugh it off. My new response had me feel lighter and caused me less ensuing drama.
Learning new dance steps is learning to respond. Responses will take you someplace new on the dance floor. Reacting will dance you into the same dark corner where you’ve stubbed your toe many times before.
When response becomes a constant in your life, you’ll react less often and start dancing to the beat of a different drummer.
All the best,
John
Listen to the recorded version below.
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