More Change

Want Some Wisdom With Your Coffee?

Along with what I suppose was millions of others, my weekend included a trip to Starbucks. We could have gotten coffee in any number of places, but there is something about the experience under the green and white sign that makes it a first choice for me. Lately I’ve been enjoying the coffee cup messages.

Just in case you’ve spent the last several years on a deserted island, never drink coffee, or live in a town sans Starbucks, allow me to bring you up to speed. For a while now, Starbuck has printed an editorial of sorts called, The Way I See It, on their cups. They are short philosophical statements by people -  famous and ordinary. It is the first thing I do with a Starbuck’s cup – read rather than drink. Imagine my reaction this weekend when I realized the message on the cup I was reading had been written by a person I actually knew.

(Good thing my husband, Frank, was with me so I could show off to him and avoid embarrassing myself by running around the shop, pointing to the cup exclaiming, “I know her, I know her!”)

Bonnie St. John, the first African-American Olympic ski medalist and National Speakers Association (NSA) member wrote the following as her The Way I See It #165.

 

I was ahead in the slalom. But in the second run, everyone fell on a dangerous spot. I was beaten by a woman who got up faster that I did. I learned that people fall down, winners get up, and gold medal winners just get up faster.

 

Not only do I know her, but I think her message is TERRIFIC! When faced with a change, we all need to be reminded that we’ll fall down; we’ll win if we get back up, and we can triumph if we get up fast.

P.S. This message might have even more meaning if you knew what I know. Bonnie is the second fastest AMPUTEE skier in the world. Talk about credibility for the subject and situation.

P.P.S. Go to Bonnie's website www.BonnieStJohn.com and you can get your own autographed copy of the cup - cool!

What About Your Funeral?

In last week’s issue of Thinking for a Change, I quoted Garrison Keillor who said, “They say such nice things at funerals that it makes me sad to realize I’m going to miss mine by just a few days.”

I didn’t have time to expound in that issue, but I’ve planned my ending celebration, telling my kids what they need to do. Ever since I read the article that explained that you could have your ashes placed into fireworks, I knew I was going to go out of this world with a bang! The good news is that we have an understanding – not to mention adventurous - friend who is licensed to pack and set off fireworks. (This is definitely not a do-it-yourself project!)

There are so many things in life that are embedded with deeply set patterns and feelings that we don’t even consider that we could change both. Don’t misunderstand. There is great comfort in ritual, but even rituals started because someone did something new that others decided to imitate. Over time, the imitation of a good idea became a must-do pattern. What started as an innovation became a fashion, then an accepted practice, until finally institutionalized as a ritual. Interesting concept – rituals were born from change.

Back to my funeral. I see friends gathered in a field under a dark sky. Music playing – probably Keep Me In Your Heart by Warren Zevon. At the perfect moment, there will be a soft sound – the first launch – and a rocket will take flight, silence, a fountain of yellow will spill from the sky and those gathered will say, Ooooooh, Ahaaaa.

See Garrison, maybe you can know what they’ll say.

Change - In the Middle

Change is often hard...especially when the change is about something you've been doing for a long time. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. Clean your plate. Flush the toilet. Sense a pattern?

We all have behaviors planted firmly in our hearts and minds, reinforced over and over by years of doing. We do these things without one moments thought - they are habits. Whole systems are built around them. Public restrooms for example. For years, architects and builders counted on the fact that you would hear your mother's voice before you exited the stall, reminding you to flush! Worked well, mostly.

Then along came change. Automatically flushed toilets. A novelty at first. (Honestly, they scared the you-know-what out of people the first time they encountered one. My favorite is when they flush before you're done.) But of course, they weren't everywhere so we continued responsible flushing. But as Malcolm Gladwell taught us, there is a tipping point.

Finally there were more automatic flush toilets in public places than the old-fashioned do-it-yourself variety and our habits started to change. Mom's voice was silenced. We expected the flushing to occur without our active participation.

Hence the sign I discovered on the stall door in the public restrooms in the Greenheck Field House in Weston, WI. After trying to figure out why it was there, it dawned on me. The Greenheck Field House, although fairly new, was built before automatic toilets became the norm and is now frequented by people who no longer believe they have an obligation to flush. Problem! Some clever person must have decided that this sign would fill the place vacated by a mother's voice saying, "Don't forget to flush, dear." At least the day I was there the sign seemed to be working.

What I'm working on now is the equivalent for changing that clean your plate message.

On another note, this blog would not have been possible without another big change - phones you carry with you and have cameras built in. If you write a blog that is tied to pictures, more important than American Express, you never want to leave home without your Treo!