Planning and Doing.. part 2

You can't plow a field by turning it over in your mind.

The Neutral Zone

Anyone who has ever remodeled a house knows a good deal about personal transitions because such an undertaking replicates the three-part transition process. It starts by making an ending and destroying what used to be. Then there is the time when it isn’t the old way any more, but not yet the new way, either. Some dismantling is still going on, but so is some new building. It is very confusing time, and it is a good idea to have made temporary arrangements for dealing with this interim (“neutral zone”) state of affairs- whether it is temporary housing or a time of modified activities and reduced espectations to make the old housing work. And as the contractors always warn you, remodeling always takes more time and money than new construction. Good advice in regard to transition, too.

William Bridges
Transitions

Holding People Back

You can’t hold a man down without staying down with him.

Booker T Washington

Planning and Doing

You can’t build a reputation on what you're going to do.

Henry Ford

Seeing What's There

You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.

Mark Twain

Finding Our Way

A Nokia Maps survey named London the most confusing city in the entire world. So, it comes as no surprise that the cities cab drivers, who must memorize some 25,000 streets and thousands of landmarks in order to pass a driving test for the job, have a larger hippocampus than most of us. That’s the part of their brain dealing with spatial relationship. According to University College London neuroscientist Eleanor Maguire, the longer they had been driving, the larger the cabbie’s hippocampus.

Even more curious was Maguire’s finding that the drivers' back side of the hippocampus was large while the front was smaller. Could it be, they are paying a price for proficiency? Is the brain so easily shaped by the demands we place on it that we lose agility in one area by concentrating our efforts in another?

Is this the unintended consequence of our blind obedience to GPS devises, disconnecting us from the world around because there’s really need to pay attention? It’s worth noting that studies have tied a shirking hippocampus to increased risk of dementia.

Perhaps we should take time to enjoy the freedom of getting lost, so we can practice the adventure of finding our way back home. And since we must exercise this skill in the physical world to keep it.. does this mean we must practice finding our way in the spiritual world as well?

Stephen Goforth

Coming to Terms

You can find very moral atheists and very immoral religious people. Both groups haven't come to terms with their belief systems.

All You Got

You better not compromise yourself. It’s all you got.

Janis Joplin

Stretching Your Head

"Becoming involved in new things and keeping your brain active are all hallmarks of activities that would tend to preserve your cognitive skills. And these are all things that searching the Internet for new information really does.”

Neuroscientist Susan Bookheimer in an interview with National Geographic News about a study that appears to validate the view that seeking out new ideas and interests helps to keep the brain stimulated and healthy. UCLA researchers found after two weeks of using Internet search engines, brain scans showed increased blood flow in areas involved in decision-making and short-term memory.

Stephen Goforth

Maturity

You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely.

Flanders Dunbar

Work, Love, Dance

Work like you don’t need money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody’s watching.

Making and Finding

Wise men make more opportunities than they find.

Francis Bacon

Engaged

Winning is important to me, but what brings me real joy is the experience of being fully engaged in whatever I'm doing.

Phil Jackson

The Difference

The will to persevere is often the difference between failure and success.

David Sarnoff

Gossip

Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you.

Spanish Proverb

Shoulder Chips

When you take responsibility on your shoulders, there isn’t much space left for a chip!

About Becoming

This is a collection of challenges to greater personal growth that I need to hear and perhaps you as well. Welcome to the petri dish called becoming.