Seeing Clearly--Part 2

Last week I posted about making changes in my life and observing others for inspiration. Today I wanted to write about the other side.

Lately, I have become exposed to people who talk and think much as people did in my mother's generation. That was okay for my mother's time period. However, as times change, people must also change.

Example 1:
I know a woman who has a strong need to control every situation around her. If she is in a conversation, she will control it. If she is involved in an activity, she MUST tell everyone how this activity will be done. She is very close to a bully--though I believe this is a compulsion she may not be able to control. She feels that her way is the right way. It is the way she has always done things and the way things were done by the adults when she was young.

I once listened to this woman tell how she yelled at a waiter that hadn't given the service she wanted and that the waiter was asked by the manager to apologize to her. I had to control my laughter. I remember my college days as a waitress. I know that restaurant employees often apologize--for anything--but revenge is sweet for the last person who touches your food or drink, before it goes into your mouth.

Whereas rudeness to restaurant employees may lead to gastric distress, inflexibility with medical workers could be dangerous. This same person was uncooperative to health care workers during a serious illness. She would attend appointments on her terms and wonder why no one ever wanted to follow-up when she missed appointments. Whenever anyone would question her decisions about her choices, the response she would give was, " My body, my choice."

During the storms of life, trees are often broken, while the bending reed survives.

Example 2:
Businesses that function in the old ways can't survive well during harsh economic times.

"That's the way it's always been done," is the cry of the lamp lighter, the town crier, and the maker of oil lamps. Businesses that don't change with the times, to meet people's needs, become obsolete. There is nothing more frustrating than to work for a struggling business and have an idea to help the company, only to hear, "We've never done that before," and have your idea dismissed.

When your ideas aren't valued morale plummets. When you are asked to take on more and more tasks, but are never told, "Thank you," you begin to feel under-valued.

What's a person to do?

God let me be like the reed and bend when the storms come my way. Let me have the flexibility to change when change is necessary.