Wednesday, May 2, 2012

1/3 Done

Greetings All:

I was about to write, "It's hard to believe that 1/3 of the year is done and it's May..."  Then again, is it really hard to believe?  Granted, for those of us in the Midwest, we had an extremely easy winter, so that could be part of it.  However, as a law professor said about (gulp) 20 years ago, "Time is neutral."  What I believe she meant and the way I took it was that time move forward.  A minute is 60 seconds, a week 7 days, and so on.  Time is what we attest to it.  Of course, in some situations, time can drag.  Waiting for a flight, results on a test and so on.  Then again, I recall that Dr. Victor Frankl (sp?) writing how even in the Hell of the death/concentration camps, "...the weeks flew by..." or words to that effect.  (As an aside, this book is a painfully hard and equally important book to read or listen to, here's the link.  I am not saying go buy it, your local library should have a copy.  This link is for info purposes and to give a proper cite to my source:)

http://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl/dp/080701429X

Back to the post and the year being a third over.  Whether or not four months of 2012 are over seems possible, it is.  Things like New Year's Resolutions have long since passed from the news and the gyms that were crowded even in February are now back to the pre-resolution level.  Have the diets gone by the wayside?  Are the plans to bring lunch and save money replaced by trips to the drive-thru lane just like before?  BTW, I am not offering a critique of anyone or any one resolution, simply offering a point that the new year is a time to think about goals, changes and after that...

As we observe (not really a time to celebrate the start of May, unless you're in Buffalo, New York and the ice is finally starting to melt) this time of year, I wonder if this is a good time to re-visit the goals that were set in January.  Why didn't they stick?  Speaking for myself, I wonder if the reason I have not made any major changes is that I am wildly fortunate to have a great life and want for nothing.  (Well, getting the Camaro running is a clear want, not a need but I digress...)  Still, I am going to take a bit of time and see what is going on and if there are things I want to do, really want to do.  After all, nothing of value comes free, it must be earned.

This may or may not be a good transition, but I gotta get to work, and I wanted to mention this--the inventory.  A valued mentor of mine recently challenged us to take an inventory of what is in our "bucket."  This is a metaphor for those things of value we carry with us (think George Clooney's backpack from Up in the Air).  This will likely include family, friends, experiences, accomplishments, disappointments, et al.  I'll wrap up with this question:  where do goals fit into this bucket?

Have a great day and Happy Law Day belated a day.

Best rgs,
Jeno