“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”
~Viktor Frankl.
A powerful principle of the effective life lived, especially these haggard days, is utilising all the available variations of human skill at the disposal of the person. This is that ability to chop and change games, the mind controlling the cadence and direction of life, or certainly reacting effectively to it.
The wisest of practitioners will anticipate slight or even dramatic shifts of situational foci—as games change they’re nimble and agile enough to hit the ground running.
The successful person of this century—and any century for that matter—can adapt. They can improvise. And they can overcome.
David Bowie, U2 and Madonna were all famous for re-inventing themselves at crucial, career-threatened times; and so it is for us. We must both anticipate change and accept it, especially when it comes without warning. This sort of anticipation is rooted in the knowledge of shifting ground.
It is the anticipation of anticipation. It expecting things when we least expect them.
“When you jump for joy, beware that no one moves the ground from beneath your feet.”
~Stanislaw Lec.
We must find the right times and right ways to do the different thing.
And if there’s one thing worse than the best time of it, it’s the time hailed when it’s over. Reaching the top of our joy means we can only slide a little farther down. We so easily forget—or perhaps we’re not even aware—that we can just as quickly go on to the higher revelation.
When do we ever reach more than a small fraction of our potential?
Switch-hitting is about playing the right shot, choosing the right move, the perfect tactic, for the moment. It’s about choosing to change and not getting into positions where we’re forced to change. Being challenged to change is different to being forced.
Only you can tell when or how. Let’s pray for insight regarding perception of the shifting ground and for courage to be decisive.
© 2010 S. J. Wickham.
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