“All beginnings are hopeful” is actually a quote from the president of Oxford University, spoken to the entering freshman in 1944, in the midst of a world war. This is a concept that we have seen confirmed throughout history. In working with people going through change, I am often struck by the discouragement, frustration, and frequent anger and resentment. I have come to recognize however, that those feelings always tell me that the person is looking backward, at something that has already occurred. As soon as we are able to create a clear plan for the future, those feelings quickly begin to dissipate and are replaced by hope, optimism and enthusiasm. In all my years of life coaching, I have never seen a person who has clear plans and goals who is also depressed. They just don’t go together.
But I Thought The Paint Was Wet!
There is a story about Russia in the days of the Czars. In the park of St. Petersburg Winter Palace there was a beautiful lawn, on that lawn a bench, and next to that bench, two guards. Every three hours the guards were changed. Yet no one could explain why these guards were guarding the bench. One day an ambitious young lieutenant was put in charge of the Palace Guard. He started wondering and asking questions. Finally, he found a little old man, the Palace historian.
Half the size – twice the price
On Thanksgiving weekend Joanne and I traveled up to the Amish country in Ohio to visit my dad in his retirement home. As always, I am amazed at the micro enterprises that cover the back roads of this farming area where I was raised. At one shop, where I bought some fresh unpastuerized apple cider, we saw a pile of miniature straw bales, about half the size of regular bales. My brother told me a local Amishman had rebuilt a hay baler to produce the tiny, decorative bales. While regular sized bales sell for about $2.00, these half sized ones sell for $4.00. That’s the power of a unique idea.
