October 2005

Trying new things is like sledding:

1.      Point yourself in the direction you want to go.

2.      Run and jump on the sled, or have someone give you a good push.

3.      Keep steering towards your goal and

4.      Have fun and scream all the way down!

I recently read an article about typewriters and keyboards.  I have always been a terrible typist, partly because I chose to study Latin and not typing in high school. That is what you did then if you aspired to higher education. I now know that my poor typing is not my fault.  When typewriters were invented, a fast typist would jam the keys together.  A more difficult keyboard was developed to slow typists down. This keyboard has stuck with us even though our computers could easily handle a much faster speed.  

So that makes me wonder:  what other habits, beliefs and technologies are still with us, even after their original purpose has become obsolete?  Making changes in our lives can seem so difficult, simply because we are heavily invested in the way we have always thought or acted. When you finally see that you are operating on autopilot most of the time, you start to question and observe and become open to new things.  You can get out of your usual tree and find a new, higher and bigger one to climb.