Life changes...

“You must be the change you

wish to see in the world.”

– Gandhi

“I would like to be the kind of person my dog already thinks I am.”

I first came across this quote when taking a Stephen Covey 7 Habits training course. Part of the process was to write a personal philosophy statement. The above example suggested it did not need to be pages long or word dense.

Since I have cats, I wondered what ‘kind of person’ they might think I am. Considering the personalities of our feline family, it seems a task beyond my grasp. For the most part, they ignore me, suggesting that sorting out even their outward interaction would be, as Winston Churchill once said: "…a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma…"

This idea, “…kind of person…” is an old one. Socrates said, “Make yourself the sort of man you want people to think you are.”  He didn’t mean you should put on a front to appear to be something you are not.

That would be what Machiavelli recommended in The Prince. He advised that success comes from the ‘appearance of good.’  Truly good people cannot make the tough, necessary decisions, real life success requires. Good people to him? Simply losers.

Back to the main thought…

One would think understanding oneself would not be a difficult task.  After all, we are around ourselves 24/7. We are present at all of our activities, privy to all our thoughts and motivations. Also, with the relatively limited time we spend around other people, it seems easy enough to understand and judge their motives.

Matthew, however, said:

^“Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye Matt 7:3-5.

Looking inward is a harder task than one might imagine, reflected in more common clichés such as:  

“When you point a finger at someone else, three fingers are pointing back at you.”

“If you want to see what is causing problems in your life, look in the mirror.”

"Taking offense where none is offered, should be a trigger for self-reflection."

“Love your enemies and pay attention to them…they will tell you your faults.”

Growth in life is like the old joke about a man coming to a Buddhist Monk hot dog vendor.

Man: “Make me one with everything,” and gives the monk $20.00

The monk smiles and puts the money in his pocket.

Man: “Hey, where’s my change?”

Monk: “Change comes from within.”

Yeah, change comes from within…

Who are we?

Finding purpose and growing into it, requires time and effort. Simply thinking about change doesn’t take much…making change does. All we need to do is look over our shoulders to see how many good intentions have evaporated like morning mists.

So for me, growth requires forward movement, executing small changes. Weirdly, I find myself, as Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians, often thinking and doing things, contrary to the person I want to become. I say, ‘become,’ because I still do not feel I have a full grasp of who or what I am supposed to be.

So, I continue the journey of self-exploration, from time to time discovering and adjusting to the aberrations. It remains challenging. Perhaps that's why philosophers and seers have suggested one of the great goals of life is to, “…know thyself…”

Maybe I should just get a dog…

- ted