Taking Freedom of Movement for Granted

This isn't the usual blog post about politics or leadership or even languaging. This is more about taking things for granted. Even in Ottawa, where storms and snowfalls are taken for granted and rarely stop us, this weekend was an exception. Imagine going to sleep one evening with snow covering the ground and the odd snow banks here and there, waking up to snow as high as rooflines. Streets, once wide enough for 5 cars to park side by side to being so filled up with snow that all of a sudden there's only room for a little over one car width. Bungalos are no longer visable at all from the street and sidewalks and signs have all but vanished is in the photo to the right.

That was this weekend when everthing came to a standstill even in a city used to snow where ploughs take it away almost as quickly as it comes down....except this past weekend. It was like a page out of a story book where the only people wandering around were walking on snowshoes.

We take so much for granted....freedom of movement being one of them. Plans never happened, going for groceries was out of the question and you made do with whatever you had around. Reading replaced running around and a roaring fire and an old movie replaced travel. It wasn't in any way shape or form what I had hoped for but it was a reminder we don't always have control of what the world hands us. And even though trips were cancelled, in the scheme of things and in a world when some can't guarantee their safety when they leave their homes, I have to remind myself that I'm so lucky in life...that the snow will melt and other weekends away will happen....and still I won't have to worry about my safety and well being. We sometimes take that for granted to. There are so many things and people we take for granted. This past weekend gave me the time to reflect...space to sit back and take stock. When's the last time you stopped and let the world in?

Best...

Donna Karlin

Change; Move With It Or Let It Paralyze You

Change. That word alone tends to paralyze many people. They start assuming and pre-acting about what they think will happen before it even starts and go off on a tangent until they're paralyzed by the mere thought. I'm not going to say "Now how smart is that exactly?" Preconceptions of what might happen if something else happens first without any basis whatsoever, is a smart use of energy, right? Not!

Last May when I was in California in with George Leonard, part of the discussion was about how one could use the game of tennis as an analogy for change. The way he described it, everything is in constant motion. Nothing stays stagnant. The ball moves, the racquet moves and you move. None of the three moves in the same way twice, so there are always variables. If you panic and freeze you'll miss the ball and if you're totally honed, aware and focused on the ball, chances are you'll hit it. And once you get the hang of it and hit it more than once until the dance of tennis itself is a constant; a foundation is built on movement.

If you don't move with the flow of the game and stand still, the ball will end up hitting you over the head; more than once. Unless you learn to move and respond to it, you're going to get beaten up big time!

What if you used that analogy on a regular basis when doing a reorg, learning something new, starting a project...anything really? It would give an odd sense of stability in an ever-changing, ever-moving world. Energy would increase, focus would be absolute and not only would you watch, learn and become more masterful in what you do, you would be mindful of everything around you because, as in tennis, not only are you, the racquet and the ball moving, but the person on the other side of the court is moving too. You have to know where and how the other person is apt to move so you can play accordingly. It's a give and take.

That's where the analogy ends because the key is to lob the ball back and forth, getting better with each swing of the racquet and contact of the ball, not make the other person miss and lose. So if you both practiced, even just the volleying of the ball back and forth, the practice itself will bring you to a new level of mastery, give, take and flow. It might not be something that happens overnight or in a dramatic way but when you look back at when you started, you'll see just how far you've come; far enough to celebrate your success and proficiency.

How could you use that analogy to manage and thrive through change that's happening in the context of your world right now? Might you already be connecting with that ball without realizing it? Think of all the times you were given something to do and jumped in with both feet without resisting. Somehow it ended up just clicking. That's it. The first step to mastery comes from practice. Change is constant. It's the paradox of life. And when you think you've integrated change and have it down pat, even then keep practicing as you'll get even better than you ever imagined.

Best!
Donna Karlin