Just a quick update to say I'm still here. We have spent the past 5 weeks commuting between our camper and home -- the time at "camp" is very relaxing and has also allowed us to do some needed repairs there. We have been doing the basics at home and trying to finish off the painting, flooring and trim for "our part" of the building extension. I have been reading a book called the "Brain that changes itself" -- recommended by Linda's chiropractor and also by my son. My interest in reading these discoveries of what can be done to overcome damage to our brain is too see how that connects to my theology. One thing I am certain of by faith is that nothing science discover about humans will be unrelated to what God has told us about humans -- although it may not have been revealed in any clear way. I'm a long way from doing any serious research on this connection so I can't say if I'll ever get tot he point of posting something coherent on the topic.
We will be unavailable most of July involved in fammily things so it may well be fall before I get into any serious discussion. I actually take this as a sign of progress as I am being more realistic about concentrating my energy on the 3 most important projects I have identified -- and allowing the rest to remain in the background. For now caring for my Dad, fulfilling my role as an elder and keeping up with other family matters fills my days -- well almost -- I also am taking more time for R&R and meditation --
God Bless
Charlie
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
I'm afraid to say I'm starting again
My desire to start a weekly posting on "breaking the cognitive egg" remains just that -- an unfulfilled desire. I'm beginning to think it just isn't meant to be and yet fatalism and passive acceptance of things that could be changed aren't very healthy -- So for now I'm seeking "the wisdom to know the difference"
The last six weeks have been interesting to say the least. We made a trip to visit our son Chris (and I had the satisfaction of installing a suspended ceiling in his basement). When we arrived Linda began experiencing severe shoulder and arm pain that as best we can tell is a chronic pain with no specific cause. She was essentially beridden for 3 weeks and between running to doctor's appointments and house work my days were fairly full -- and then as she began to recuperate I foolishly burned my little finger and that along with continuing other responsibilities for my Dad and worki at the church has left me with little energy for this project -- so the beat goes on -- I haven't given up -- and I've given up being driven to accomplish something that for whatever reason hasn't made it to the "must do" list.
Perhaps this is a lesson in patience or perhaps it's an exercise in rationalization -- I'm not sure and I'm not going to worry about it -- God knows and I trust in his grace in all these things.
God Bless
Charlie
The last six weeks have been interesting to say the least. We made a trip to visit our son Chris (and I had the satisfaction of installing a suspended ceiling in his basement). When we arrived Linda began experiencing severe shoulder and arm pain that as best we can tell is a chronic pain with no specific cause. She was essentially beridden for 3 weeks and between running to doctor's appointments and house work my days were fairly full -- and then as she began to recuperate I foolishly burned my little finger and that along with continuing other responsibilities for my Dad and worki at the church has left me with little energy for this project -- so the beat goes on -- I haven't given up -- and I've given up being driven to accomplish something that for whatever reason hasn't made it to the "must do" list.
Perhaps this is a lesson in patience or perhaps it's an exercise in rationalization -- I'm not sure and I'm not going to worry about it -- God knows and I trust in his grace in all these things.
God Bless
Charlie
Monday, March 15, 2010
So far it isn't getting any easier
Last post on January 24 I said I was going to be talking about “making the complex more simple and the hard easier”.
For reasons noted below I haven’t made much progress
One thing for sure is trying to do even a weekly blog about changing the way this 65 year old brain operates isn't going to be either "easy" or "simple".
Since the last post my time for "cracking the cognitive egg" has been consumed by life happenings.
From January 24 through February 7 I was almost full-time working on the project of relocating my Dad from an apartment to a retirement home. If I'm experiencing difficulty in making real changes to the habits I've developed over the years -- try getting a 93 year old man to learn new routines! However, it was a successful transitions.
We then took a week to travel to visit with Sarah and Will who had come east for a visit with her parents and friends. We spent a great afternoon with them in Niagara Falls -- amazed at how much he had grown and changed in the 8 months since we had last seen him . We also visited with friends in the area and spent the weekend with Melissa and Alex in Toronto.
No sooner back from that trip with plans to take a longer time of R&R for 4 weeks in mid-March to mid-April when my brother -- in addition to ongoing heart problems had a minor stroke --
So I suppose I can't feel too guilty for failing to meet my weekly commitment to posting.
I did want to do something this week -- before we head off on our trip.
So far my efforts at “cracking the cognitive egg” have been more like fruitless efforts to unravel a ball of string. I see a little end here and there but I soon find it is entangled in the ball and I start again looking for a piece that will come off completely before moving to the next one.
I am looking for some type of framework to shape my thinking and ultimately influence my behavior. Last time I mentioned the need to examine pre-suppositions – and I have been thinking about that. One of my strongest presuppositions is my “assumption” that God exists – this I accept as an “article of faith” or as an “axiom” of life. Of course other start with different pre-suppositions but for me this one is foundational” self-evident” place that I start. Knowing God (Theology) then becomes a very central theme in my life and any changes I make need to be shaped by my theology.
For today I am posting portions of a sermon I presented describing God’s gifts of enable (us to lie as his children), equipping (us with gifts that allow us to do His good works of service) and encouraging (us through the presence of others who also seek to serve).
I have made some editorial changes to remove specific local references.
God Bless
Charlie
Reading Matt. 25:14-30
My goal this morning is to provide some thoughts on how we can individually and collectively be “the best we can be” in our walk with Jesus.
(being the best we can be is based on Phil 4:16 which says in part
--- “letlive up to what we have already attained.”
Is there anyone here who doesn’t know who these people are and why they are celebrating? I doubt it!!! ( Clockwise from top left - Alex Bilodeau, Joannie Rogette, Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue , Sidney Crosby)
--- a story that illustrates “the joy of victory and the agony of defeat”
--- and also illustrates the human capacity to achieve “impossible dreams”.
.. and it took individual athletes with their own dreams and goals to put in the time and effort to qualify and then compete, it took coaches, parents and other supporters -
Jesus has a dream that all “may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). And He gave his life so that we might have this gift.
Do we share that dream as a church family? What purpose or goal are we determined to achieve? How do you and I as individuals within that family give of ourselves each day to allow Jesus dream to be a reality that we experience??
Their mission (for the Olympic Games) was to be #1 in medals.
One way of stating our mission as follower's of Jesus is ...
.. Going .. Growing … Gving
What prevents us from getting “on board” with this mission?
And make no mistake, being “on board” means much more than having “put on Christ in baptism” – as important as that is-- and it means much more than attending services and bible studies -- even though these things too are important.
No .. committing to “going, growing and giving” as your mission means so much more than these. It means surrendering your life 24/7 - every day - each day.
You may think this mission is too big? or I don’t know what I am able to do? Or I don’t have the knowledge or ability to do anything that will help? Or I’ve tried and it didn’t work or I’m tired and discouraged – I can’t keep going?
One of the ways to do what may seem as impossible is to break the mission into more tangible and specific goals
For example, Canada’s Olympic dream began way back before 1998 when Vancouver was picked (instead of Quebec City or Calgary) to be the city to submit the Canadian bid. Then after a lot more work was done the IOC selected Canada (Vancouver’s) bid in July 2003.
And then the real work began – there were all kinds of building projects, athletes vying to be selected for the games, etc. etc. It cost over $6 billion dollars and took countless thousands of people – and in the end we celebrated Sydney Crosby ‘s overtime goal and claimed Canada’s 14th Gold medal. (I should acknowledge for our US neighbors that even though Canada beat the US in hockey -- and a few other sports -- the US "owned the podium" with 37 medals overall)
I’m sure there were many back in 1998 that said this was crazy – impossible – but it was accomplished.
So let’s believe that following Jesus is possible – and let’s also understand that it requires effort –
When we try to follow in someone’s footsteps, we may wonder how our footprint measures up?
One thing for sure our footprints aren’t going to be the same as Jesus - his footprints are simply too big us to fill. (Notice "my" little foot in Jesus "big foot")
However, we can be following and we can be growing as we follow. (Eph 2:10-11, I Pet 1 3-11, Gal 5:23-25)
We may not be able to fill His “shoes” but we can grow “triple E” feet – This means we are
1)enabled – we are able to take on some task
2) equipped with knowledge, tools and skills to do our task.
3) encouraged and encouragers – to help us persevere in spite of the adversities and trails we experience in this life.
Putting on the Olympics required places to compete and places for the athletes and fans to stay and ways to feed them and move them around. It also needed competent (enabled), equipped athletes who were encouraged as they pursued their dreams of gold.
But it took more - It took many different kinds of “talents” (planners, builders, organizers, marketers, fundraisers, coaches, trainers, supporters, and volunteers ),
In the same way followers of Jesus are not identical “clones” who all do everything the same and are all equally capable of doing all things. No we are (to switch metaphors) a body that has hands, feet, mouths, eyes – each with a specific job and to function well each one needs to do its part (Ephesians 4:15-16)
Not only does it require different abilities but each one has different levels of capability.
There may be some who are more visible and who stand up and take the “medals” when God grants a good result from our efforts but the reality is nothing good happens without each one doing their part – even if it is just “being a fan” by praying and encouraging others who are more visibly involved.
There’s no shame in being a “1 talent worker”. The shame is NOT stepping up and being the best we can be for Jesus –
And don’t let anyone make you think that “one size fits all” when it comes to what need to be doing to “follow Jesus”. – each one is uniquely created to serve God.
So let’s be sure we are using whatever our talents are by growing triple E feet.
For reasons noted below I haven’t made much progress
One thing for sure is trying to do even a weekly blog about changing the way this 65 year old brain operates isn't going to be either "easy" or "simple".
Since the last post my time for "cracking the cognitive egg" has been consumed by life happenings.
From January 24 through February 7 I was almost full-time working on the project of relocating my Dad from an apartment to a retirement home. If I'm experiencing difficulty in making real changes to the habits I've developed over the years -- try getting a 93 year old man to learn new routines! However, it was a successful transitions.
We then took a week to travel to visit with Sarah and Will who had come east for a visit with her parents and friends. We spent a great afternoon with them in Niagara Falls -- amazed at how much he had grown and changed in the 8 months since we had last seen him . We also visited with friends in the area and spent the weekend with Melissa and Alex in Toronto.
No sooner back from that trip with plans to take a longer time of R&R for 4 weeks in mid-March to mid-April when my brother -- in addition to ongoing heart problems had a minor stroke --
So I suppose I can't feel too guilty for failing to meet my weekly commitment to posting.
I did want to do something this week -- before we head off on our trip.
So far my efforts at “cracking the cognitive egg” have been more like fruitless efforts to unravel a ball of string. I see a little end here and there but I soon find it is entangled in the ball and I start again looking for a piece that will come off completely before moving to the next one.
I am looking for some type of framework to shape my thinking and ultimately influence my behavior. Last time I mentioned the need to examine pre-suppositions – and I have been thinking about that. One of my strongest presuppositions is my “assumption” that God exists – this I accept as an “article of faith” or as an “axiom” of life. Of course other start with different pre-suppositions but for me this one is foundational” self-evident” place that I start. Knowing God (Theology) then becomes a very central theme in my life and any changes I make need to be shaped by my theology.
For today I am posting portions of a sermon I presented describing God’s gifts of enable (us to lie as his children), equipping (us with gifts that allow us to do His good works of service) and encouraging (us through the presence of others who also seek to serve).
I have made some editorial changes to remove specific local references.
God Bless
Charlie
Reading Matt. 25:14-30
My goal this morning is to provide some thoughts on how we can individually and collectively be “the best we can be” in our walk with Jesus.
(being the best we can be is based on Phil 4:16 which says in part
--- “let
Is there anyone here who doesn’t know who these people are and why they are celebrating? I doubt it!!! ( Clockwise from top left - Alex Bilodeau, Joannie Rogette, Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue , Sidney Crosby)
I am still excited by the many memorable events of these games and I know that is true for most Canadians and for many more around the world – the Paralympics will add to this story
--- a story that illustrates “the joy of victory and the agony of defeat”
--- and also illustrates the human capacity to achieve “impossible dreams”.
The Olympics was a huge undertaking. It didn’t happen by accident. It started with a dream by a few people and came about through the determination of many people to pursue the dream by setting goals and pursuing them.
It wasn’t enough for the organizing committee to commit to this dream and set goals –it took many different people -- engineers, construction workers to build the facilities and all kinds of people to run the events – for example security people
.. and it took individual athletes with their own dreams and goals to put in the time and effort to qualify and then compete, it took coaches, parents and other supporters -
Setting goals, having the commitment to make them happen, perseverance and hard work led to a record breaking 14 gold medals
Jesus has a dream that all “may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). And He gave his life so that we might have this gift.
Do we share that dream as a church family? What purpose or goal are we determined to achieve? How do you and I as individuals within that family give of ourselves each day to allow Jesus dream to be a reality that we experience??
To accomplish great things, it is important for a group to have a common goal, purpose or mission
In the lead-up to the 2010 Winter Olympics (and Paralympics) several of the Canadian sports organizations supported by government and other partners joined together to create the “ Own the Podium” initiative
Their mission (for the Olympic Games) was to be #1 in medals.
Now we can question whether this was a realistic mission and we can debate whether it was accomplished or even give the reasons why Canada failed to accomplish the mission
Or we can believe that setting a “big hairy audacious goal” spurred the athletes in their efforts to achieve and we can celebrate what was accomplished
One way of stating our mission as follower's of Jesus is ...
.. Going .. Growing … Gving
Of course our mission is set by God and at its simplest our mission is to “follow Jesus” (Mark 8:34)—
There is ONE important difference between our mission and the Olympics. In Jesus, because of God’s grace, IF we are in the race, we are all “gold medalists” –
As followers of Jesus we are called to “make every effort” to live this mission – to be “in the race” each & every day –whether at home, at work or at play.
What prevents us from getting “on board” with this mission?
And make no mistake, being “on board” means much more than having “put on Christ in baptism” – as important as that is-- and it means much more than attending services and bible studies -- even though these things too are important.
No .. committing to “going, growing and giving” as your mission means so much more than these. It means surrendering your life 24/7 - every day - each day.
You may think this mission is too big? or I don’t know what I am able to do? Or I don’t have the knowledge or ability to do anything that will help? Or I’ve tried and it didn’t work or I’m tired and discouraged – I can’t keep going?
One of the ways to do what may seem as impossible is to break the mission into more tangible and specific goals
For example, Canada’s Olympic dream began way back before 1998 when Vancouver was picked (instead of Quebec City or Calgary) to be the city to submit the Canadian bid. Then after a lot more work was done the IOC selected Canada (Vancouver’s) bid in July 2003.
And then the real work began – there were all kinds of building projects, athletes vying to be selected for the games, etc. etc. It cost over $6 billion dollars and took countless thousands of people – and in the end we celebrated Sydney Crosby ‘s overtime goal and claimed Canada’s 14th Gold medal. (I should acknowledge for our US neighbors that even though Canada beat the US in hockey -- and a few other sports -- the US "owned the podium" with 37 medals overall)
I’m sure there were many back in 1998 that said this was crazy – impossible – but it was accomplished.
So let’s believe that following Jesus is possible – and let’s also understand that it requires effort –
When we try to follow in someone’s footsteps, we may wonder how our footprint measures up?
One thing for sure our footprints aren’t going to be the same as Jesus - his footprints are simply too big us to fill. (Notice "my" little foot in Jesus "big foot")
However, we can be following and we can be growing as we follow. (Eph 2:10-11, I Pet 1 3-11, Gal 5:23-25)
We may not be able to fill His “shoes” but we can grow “triple E” feet – This means we are
1)enabled – we are able to take on some task
2) equipped with knowledge, tools and skills to do our task.
3) encouraged and encouragers – to help us persevere in spite of the adversities and trails we experience in this life.
And we are promised these things in ever-increasing measure (unless we do as the one-talent servant and bury our feet instead of growing them.
(If needed I can give the biblical evidence that we are promised these abilities (gifts))
(If needed I can give the biblical evidence that we are promised these abilities (gifts))
(Note: feet can grow in 2 ways - length and breadth -- in this metaphor length represents adding additional gifts and abilities as we grow -- breadth -- "triple E" is growth that let's us be the best we can be with whatever gifts and abilities we already have).
Putting on the Olympics required places to compete and places for the athletes and fans to stay and ways to feed them and move them around. It also needed competent (enabled), equipped athletes who were encouraged as they pursued their dreams of gold.
But it took more - It took many different kinds of “talents” (planners, builders, organizers, marketers, fundraisers, coaches, trainers, supporters, and volunteers ),
In the same way followers of Jesus are not identical “clones” who all do everything the same and are all equally capable of doing all things. No we are (to switch metaphors) a body that has hands, feet, mouths, eyes – each with a specific job and to function well each one needs to do its part (Ephesians 4:15-16)
Not only does it require different abilities but each one has different levels of capability.
There may be some who are more visible and who stand up and take the “medals” when God grants a good result from our efforts but the reality is nothing good happens without each one doing their part – even if it is just “being a fan” by praying and encouraging others who are more visibly involved.
There’s no shame in being a “1 talent worker”. The shame is NOT stepping up and being the best we can be for Jesus –
And don’t let anyone make you think that “one size fits all” when it comes to what need to be doing to “follow Jesus”. – each one is uniquely created to serve God.
So let’s be sure we are using whatever our talents are by growing triple E feet.
We have a mission as a family – each one can do something as part of that mission – sometimes as a part of organized ministry efforts
-- and always and most importantly as we go about our daily lives .. at work, at home, at play.
Prayer: Father help each of us use the gifts you have given us to grow and use our “Triple E” feet so that we will receive “Heaven’s gold medal” – and that by our walk in faith, hope and love we will bring others with us. And especially Father help us to “follow Jesus” each day so that we can experience the joy, peace and love that is promised in this life
Sunday, January 24, 2010
If it were easy ....
Again a busy full week. A couple of days related to my Dad’s care; a day working on the building; time at the dentist having a crown installed. and preparing for and being part of a great afternoon (visiting and a pot luck supper) with Linda’s family on Saturday. We had 8 (of 9) of her brothers and sisters (and many of the “in-laws” along with several nieces, & nephews, a “grand” niece and the first “great-grand” nephew (hard to believe but Linda’s younger sister became a great-grandmother last April). There were for a total of 24 here for at least part of the afternoon.
As I was preparing to write about my efforts to “Get cracking”, I was considering (again) exactly what it was I was trying to accomplish in this “Breaking the cognitive egg” exercise.
There are actually 2 parts to this.
One has to do with “preventative measures” to offset the normal and natural decline in our reasoning and thinking powers as we age – and yes -- while I don’t think of myself that way I am now an official “card carrying” member of those that the Government of Canada considers old!!) (Actually I still believe in my definition of old – it’s someone who is at least 20 years older than I am :):) )
This idea of "keeping the brain sharp" is really the point of the article I referred to in Cracking the cognitive egg which I posted January 2 as the start of this series.
The second part has to do with the things mentioned in my last post – breaking bad habits such as "An (obsessive) need for approval - habits that limit and in some cases are destructive to my relationships.
For now I’m pursuing the idea that the same techniques that help with retaining cognitive skills may be helpful in breaking these habits – in the sense that changing habits requires breaking “well-trodden paths in our synapses” (see the goal outlined in the “Cracking the cognitive egg” article. )
As a starting point in this process, I had decided to identify the hypotheses that I am undertaking to prove (or disprove). And as I was starting to think about that I realized that it was important to be clear about the foundational “world views” that I have – "What are the things that I take as given's?"
Rene Descartes the famous French philospher and mathematician summarized his basic presuppositions in the statement "Cogito ergo sum" (translated into English as 'I think, therefore I am' ; or 'I am thinking, therefore I exist').
My presuppositions will both shape and limit my thinking— and they need to be understood both by myself and my readers before there can really be an understanding of what I am saying.
This leads me to remember one of my favorite sayings
“There are things that are easy (or hard) to do and there are things that are simple (or complex) to understand”
This leads to 4 possibilities – things that are simple to understand and easy to do; things that are simple to understand and hard to do; things that are complex but easy to do and things that are both complex and hard to do”
And this lead me to thinking that the answer to my question from last week about “Why is it so hard to get started?” is “If it was easy, I’d already be done”
And that lead to looking up some “easy quotes” which I’ve listed below.
Next time - I’ll begin the process of making the complex more simple and the hard easier. For now do you have any favorites from these quotes?
There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult. Warren Buffett
Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think. Martin Luther King, Jr.
There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right. Ronald Reagan
Don't just read the easy stuff. You may be entertained by it, but you will never grow from it. Jim Rohn
Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. John F. Kennedy
If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men's cottage princes' palaces. William Shakespeare
There is always an easy solution to every problem - neat, plausible, and wrong. H. L. Mencken
Thinking is easy, action is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Good questions outrank easy answers. Paul Samuelson
All things are difficult before they are easy. Thomas Fuller
All difficult things have their origin in that which is easy, and great things in that which is small. …. Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy …. Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step Lao Tzu
Faith makes all things possible... love makes all things easy. Dwight L. Moody
It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get. Confucius
Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. Mother Teresa
There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires. Nelson Mandela
Anybody can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not within everybody's power and is not easy. Aristotle
Evil is easy, and has infinite forms. Blaise Pascal
Now don't say you can't swear off drinking; it's easy. I've done it a thousand times. W. C. Fields
To swear off making mistakes is very easy. All you have to do is swear off having ideas. Leo Burnett
Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness. Marianne Williamson
It's easy to fool the eye but it's hard to fool the heart. Al Pacino
To find fault is easy; to do better may be difficult. Plutarch
There are three musts that hold us back: I must do well. You must treat me well. And the world must be easy. Albert Ellis
To disbelieve is easy; to scoff is simple; to have faith is harder. Louis L'Amour
It is very easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements in comparison with what we owe others. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy. Marie Curie
All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. Galileo Galilei
There is nothing so easy to learn as experience and nothing so hard to apply. ….Advice is like castor oil, easy enough to give but dreadful uneasy to take. Josh Billings
Falsehood is easy, truth so difficult. George Eliot
What is easy is seldom excellent. Samuel Johnson
Only entropy comes easy. Anton Chekhov
Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do. Edgar Degas
Philosophy finds it an easy matter to vanquish past and future evils, but the present are commonly too hard for it. Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy. Saadi
Castles in the air - they are so easy to take refuge in. And so easy to build too. Henrik Ibsen
It wasn't until late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say "I don't know." W. Somerset Maugham
A wise man thinks what is easy is difficult. A fool often fails because he thinks what is difficult is easy John Churton Collins
So am I making the easy – hard – am I making the simple complex? -- -- Time will tell.
God Bless
Charlie
As I was preparing to write about my efforts to “Get cracking”, I was considering (again) exactly what it was I was trying to accomplish in this “Breaking the cognitive egg” exercise.
There are actually 2 parts to this.
One has to do with “preventative measures” to offset the normal and natural decline in our reasoning and thinking powers as we age – and yes -- while I don’t think of myself that way I am now an official “card carrying” member of those that the Government of Canada considers old!!) (Actually I still believe in my definition of old – it’s someone who is at least 20 years older than I am :):) )
This idea of "keeping the brain sharp" is really the point of the article I referred to in Cracking the cognitive egg which I posted January 2 as the start of this series.
The second part has to do with the things mentioned in my last post – breaking bad habits such as "An (obsessive) need for approval - habits that limit and in some cases are destructive to my relationships.
For now I’m pursuing the idea that the same techniques that help with retaining cognitive skills may be helpful in breaking these habits – in the sense that changing habits requires breaking “well-trodden paths in our synapses” (see the goal outlined in the “Cracking the cognitive egg” article. )
As a starting point in this process, I had decided to identify the hypotheses that I am undertaking to prove (or disprove). And as I was starting to think about that I realized that it was important to be clear about the foundational “world views” that I have – "What are the things that I take as given's?"
Rene Descartes the famous French philospher and mathematician summarized his basic presuppositions in the statement "Cogito ergo sum" (translated into English as 'I think, therefore I am' ; or 'I am thinking, therefore I exist').
My presuppositions will both shape and limit my thinking— and they need to be understood both by myself and my readers before there can really be an understanding of what I am saying.
This leads me to remember one of my favorite sayings
“There are things that are easy (or hard) to do and there are things that are simple (or complex) to understand”
This leads to 4 possibilities – things that are simple to understand and easy to do; things that are simple to understand and hard to do; things that are complex but easy to do and things that are both complex and hard to do”
And this lead me to thinking that the answer to my question from last week about “Why is it so hard to get started?” is “If it was easy, I’d already be done”
And that lead to looking up some “easy quotes” which I’ve listed below.
Next time - I’ll begin the process of making the complex more simple and the hard easier. For now do you have any favorites from these quotes?
There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult. Warren Buffett
Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think. Martin Luther King, Jr.
There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right. Ronald Reagan
Don't just read the easy stuff. You may be entertained by it, but you will never grow from it. Jim Rohn
Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. John F. Kennedy
If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men's cottage princes' palaces. William Shakespeare
There is always an easy solution to every problem - neat, plausible, and wrong. H. L. Mencken
Thinking is easy, action is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Good questions outrank easy answers. Paul Samuelson
All things are difficult before they are easy. Thomas Fuller
All difficult things have their origin in that which is easy, and great things in that which is small. …. Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy …. Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step Lao Tzu
Faith makes all things possible... love makes all things easy. Dwight L. Moody
It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get. Confucius
Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. Mother Teresa
There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires. Nelson Mandela
Anybody can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not within everybody's power and is not easy. Aristotle
Evil is easy, and has infinite forms. Blaise Pascal
Now don't say you can't swear off drinking; it's easy. I've done it a thousand times. W. C. Fields
To swear off making mistakes is very easy. All you have to do is swear off having ideas. Leo Burnett
Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness. Marianne Williamson
It's easy to fool the eye but it's hard to fool the heart. Al Pacino
To find fault is easy; to do better may be difficult. Plutarch
There are three musts that hold us back: I must do well. You must treat me well. And the world must be easy. Albert Ellis
To disbelieve is easy; to scoff is simple; to have faith is harder. Louis L'Amour
It is very easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements in comparison with what we owe others. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy. Marie Curie
All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. Galileo Galilei
There is nothing so easy to learn as experience and nothing so hard to apply. ….Advice is like castor oil, easy enough to give but dreadful uneasy to take. Josh Billings
Falsehood is easy, truth so difficult. George Eliot
What is easy is seldom excellent. Samuel Johnson
Only entropy comes easy. Anton Chekhov
Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do. Edgar Degas
Philosophy finds it an easy matter to vanquish past and future evils, but the present are commonly too hard for it. Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy. Saadi
Castles in the air - they are so easy to take refuge in. And so easy to build too. Henrik Ibsen
It wasn't until late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say "I don't know." W. Somerset Maugham
A wise man thinks what is easy is difficult. A fool often fails because he thinks what is difficult is easy John Churton Collins
So am I making the easy – hard – am I making the simple complex? -- -- Time will tell.
God Bless
Charlie
Monday, January 18, 2010
Why is it so hard to get started?
Another full week and a bit and I didn’t get a post done on Saturday -- The good news is that I’ve already posted as many times in 2010 as I did for the entire year last year. (In looking at my archive bar I see this pattern of posts (2006 – 103; 2007 – 34; 2008 – 15 ; 2009 – 2) so I suppose it wasn’t much of a challenge to exceed my 2009 output – we’ll see were it ends up)
Back in July 2006 I posted a blog Living by the Nike Creed where I talked about my tendency to put off starting projects and challenged myself to follow the Nike slogan “Just do it?”.
I’m finding that my commitment to “breaking the cognitive egg” seems to be keep getting sidetracked by life and I ask myself ‘why is it so difficult to get started?’ (which I would measure by being able to point to concrete specific actions I have taken beyond just “thinking about it” and writing weird posts about techniques of cracking eggs :)
So ‘Why is it so difficult to get started (make visible progress)?
One answer is that last week was a very full week. Monday I spent trying to get organized. Making lists (and lists of lists) about what needed to be done and picking up materials for the Tuesday work day at the church building. Wednesday through Friday was fully occupied with family events related to my Dad’s 93rd birthday. We had family here for lunch & supper both Wednesday & Thursday and lunch Friday and then a big family dinner at the North 82 restaurant on Friday night.
Saturday a.m. was tied up in a church planning meeting and the p.m. was a little quieter. I spent most of Saturday afternoon working through and cleaning up a years worth of backlog in my email inbox (well I cleared out January and February 2009 and worked back through December) and took care of a few long standing small projects. Saturday evening we attended an 85th birthday celebration for one of our neighbors. With all that activity, I didn’t spend much time on my journal thinking about the “big question”.
Another answer is that it is tough getting started on something new when there are several important things that need to be cleaned up before I add something else to the list.
One of the disciplines (habits) that I have been focused on developing in my living for several years is based on the asking these 2 questions
“What would you be doing today if it was your last day?
And what would you be doing today if it was your first day?”
and then doing (at least 1) thing from each of the answers during the day. (Interestingly I heard Ravi Zacharias state this principle in a slightly different way in a radio sermon last evening – He said “Treat your body as if it will be here forever and treat your soul as if this will be your last day).
Those daily choices have been shaped by a fairly consistent process of starting each month and then each week by listing the 3 most important things I need to get done that week (over and above the routines of daily living) and last week the 3 important things didn’t include a specific goal for my “egg cracking project”.
A 3rd possible answer is that I’m doing OK with getting this project started – after all this is a pretty huge ball of string to unravel and just because I haven’t found the a long piece to unwind and the pile of unraveled pieces is quite small doesn’t mean that I haven’t been making reasonable progress.
Maybe it’s just a rationalization and denial of my inability to figure out how to jumpstart this project but I choose to accept this answer.
I did identify what I think are 4 key “success factors” (things I need to overcome – or to push the metaphor parts of the egg I have to crack) to improve the health and strength of my relationships.
1. I have an (obsessive) need for approval. When others disagree I often feel disliked and unworthy.
Rather than dealing with the discomfort of disagreement and sticking with the discussion, I can become angry or I may just concede and bury the frustration(which can erupt like a volcano later unexpectedly and at someone else on a completely different topic)
2 I want to be right – to be the one that has all the answers.
This leads to all types of dysfunctional behavior when I’m asked a question that I really don’t want to deal with or which seems to challenge my “authoritative” status.
3. I feel ashamed, and inadequate when I make a mistake.
This leads to anger and denial.
4. I feel responsible for what others do – I want to "fix" them.
This leads to efforts to control others, disrespect for their boundaries and anger when they don’t conform.
These limitations and my reactions to them are toxic (like a cancer) that can, at worst, eat away at and destroy a relationship and at best, limit the number of mature, healthy and fulfilling close relationships that I can sustain.
While these are only words, they do provide a framework for the egg cracking exercise – and for this week my “slogan” is (taken again from an advertisement) “Let’s get cracking”
God Bless
Charlie
Back in July 2006 I posted a blog Living by the Nike Creed where I talked about my tendency to put off starting projects and challenged myself to follow the Nike slogan “Just do it?”.
I’m finding that my commitment to “breaking the cognitive egg” seems to be keep getting sidetracked by life and I ask myself ‘why is it so difficult to get started?’ (which I would measure by being able to point to concrete specific actions I have taken beyond just “thinking about it” and writing weird posts about techniques of cracking eggs :)
So ‘Why is it so difficult to get started (make visible progress)?
One answer is that last week was a very full week. Monday I spent trying to get organized. Making lists (and lists of lists) about what needed to be done and picking up materials for the Tuesday work day at the church building. Wednesday through Friday was fully occupied with family events related to my Dad’s 93rd birthday. We had family here for lunch & supper both Wednesday & Thursday and lunch Friday and then a big family dinner at the North 82 restaurant on Friday night.
Saturday a.m. was tied up in a church planning meeting and the p.m. was a little quieter. I spent most of Saturday afternoon working through and cleaning up a years worth of backlog in my email inbox (well I cleared out January and February 2009 and worked back through December) and took care of a few long standing small projects. Saturday evening we attended an 85th birthday celebration for one of our neighbors. With all that activity, I didn’t spend much time on my journal thinking about the “big question”.
Another answer is that it is tough getting started on something new when there are several important things that need to be cleaned up before I add something else to the list.
One of the disciplines (habits) that I have been focused on developing in my living for several years is based on the asking these 2 questions
“What would you be doing today if it was your last day?
And what would you be doing today if it was your first day?”
and then doing (at least 1) thing from each of the answers during the day. (Interestingly I heard Ravi Zacharias state this principle in a slightly different way in a radio sermon last evening – He said “Treat your body as if it will be here forever and treat your soul as if this will be your last day).
Those daily choices have been shaped by a fairly consistent process of starting each month and then each week by listing the 3 most important things I need to get done that week (over and above the routines of daily living) and last week the 3 important things didn’t include a specific goal for my “egg cracking project”.
A 3rd possible answer is that I’m doing OK with getting this project started – after all this is a pretty huge ball of string to unravel and just because I haven’t found the a long piece to unwind and the pile of unraveled pieces is quite small doesn’t mean that I haven’t been making reasonable progress.
Maybe it’s just a rationalization and denial of my inability to figure out how to jumpstart this project but I choose to accept this answer.
I did identify what I think are 4 key “success factors” (things I need to overcome – or to push the metaphor parts of the egg I have to crack) to improve the health and strength of my relationships.
1. I have an (obsessive) need for approval. When others disagree I often feel disliked and unworthy.
Rather than dealing with the discomfort of disagreement and sticking with the discussion, I can become angry or I may just concede and bury the frustration(which can erupt like a volcano later unexpectedly and at someone else on a completely different topic)
2 I want to be right – to be the one that has all the answers.
This leads to all types of dysfunctional behavior when I’m asked a question that I really don’t want to deal with or which seems to challenge my “authoritative” status.
3. I feel ashamed, and inadequate when I make a mistake.
This leads to anger and denial.
4. I feel responsible for what others do – I want to "fix" them.
This leads to efforts to control others, disrespect for their boundaries and anger when they don’t conform.
These limitations and my reactions to them are toxic (like a cancer) that can, at worst, eat away at and destroy a relationship and at best, limit the number of mature, healthy and fulfilling close relationships that I can sustain.
While these are only words, they do provide a framework for the egg cracking exercise – and for this week my “slogan” is (taken again from an advertisement) “Let’s get cracking”
God Bless
Charlie
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Thoughts about cracking eggs
Wow – a whole week of 2010 gone already. It’s been a busy week – in addition to the normal things around the house, at least daily visits with my Dad tending to his needs, getting back into the church building project (filling in while the project manager is out of commission dealing with medical problems, visit to the ortho clinic Monday (last time for the elbow until he does surgery in a few months to remove the plate & screws he put in in July) , Wednesday visit to dentist to do the prep work and get a temporary crown, preparing (Tuesday) and then restoring curtains etc for new windows which were installed Wednesday, organizing family supper next Friday to celebrate my Dad’s 93rd and a couple of visits with some folks who were needing someone to listen to them as they wrestled with some tough things in their lives and capped off last evening with a nachos and movie night with some friends from our church family – AVATAR – even in 2D -- it’s a cliffhanger (literally at times)
I am thankful to be blessed with the health and energy that let’s me enjoy this pace and for the ability to make jokes about the similarities between lists and rabbits. (you’ll have to get to my FACEBOOK page for full details on that one)
Last week I included an excerpt from “The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain” by Barbara Strauch and then I asked
“How can I ‘crack the cognitive egg and scramble it up’ so as to create positive changes in my relationship behaviors” (or is this even possible)?
As I have been journaling this week, I started thinking about this idea and it generated these random thoughts
1. It’s easy to crack an egg – but not as easy to do it right. Have you seen a child the first time trying to crack the egg and get the contents into the bowel without also included the shell or observed with wonder an expert doing 2 eggs one handed with ease and flair (You can watch the Youtube training video to develop this skill for one egg))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfHqdc4pbbs&feature=player_embedded
>
2. There are different reasons for cracking an egg – one is to get at the contents to cook them – another is to allow the hatchling inside to emerge. (See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCdbRR8FbX0)
While the metaphor of the cognitive egg seems to refer to the breaking to let the contents out and change into a new shape, perhaps there is some merit in pursuing the hatchling idea .
3. Sometimes the contents of the egg are scrambled, sometimes they are fried and sometimes they are hardboiled. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv8vsuNWhWQ
I wonder I really want to do any of these things with my brain (thought processes) and I also think that any of these might at times be an aptdescription of my current situation.
4. There’s the Humpty Dumpty syndrome to consider. We can crack the egg and scramble up the contents – but how will we put it back together again?
5. Isn’t there something a little unsettling about this metaphor – If the egg is my skull – do I really want to crack it open and start scrambling the grey stuff inside?I think not.
6. It doesn’t matter how much thinking we do about cracking the egg if we never get on with the work of changing. And this blog is evidence of that fact – it is a way of posting something despite not having done much "real work" on this question this week.
However, if I’m going to pursue this I know it will take discipline and consistent effort. And part of that is a commitment to a weekly blogging exercise to share things that may be of help to others – so for this week we’ll be a little silly and just think about cracking eggs. Any thoughts about that that I’ve missed?
Maybe by next Saturday I’ll have something more on this – or maybe not--
I'm thinking the this may be a tough egg to crack(pun intended)
God Bless
Charlie
I am thankful to be blessed with the health and energy that let’s me enjoy this pace and for the ability to make jokes about the similarities between lists and rabbits. (you’ll have to get to my FACEBOOK page for full details on that one)
Last week I included an excerpt from “The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain” by Barbara Strauch and then I asked
“How can I ‘crack the cognitive egg and scramble it up’ so as to create positive changes in my relationship behaviors” (or is this even possible)?
As I have been journaling this week, I started thinking about this idea and it generated these random thoughts
1. It’s easy to crack an egg – but not as easy to do it right. Have you seen a child the first time trying to crack the egg and get the contents into the bowel without also included the shell or observed with wonder an expert doing 2 eggs one handed with ease and flair (You can watch the Youtube training video to develop this skill for one egg))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfHqdc4pbbs&feature=player_embedded
>
2. There are different reasons for cracking an egg – one is to get at the contents to cook them – another is to allow the hatchling inside to emerge. (See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCdbRR8FbX0)
While the metaphor of the cognitive egg seems to refer to the breaking to let the contents out and change into a new shape, perhaps there is some merit in pursuing the hatchling idea .
3. Sometimes the contents of the egg are scrambled, sometimes they are fried and sometimes they are hardboiled. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv8vsuNWhWQ
I wonder I really want to do any of these things with my brain (thought processes) and I also think that any of these might at times be an aptdescription of my current situation.
4. There’s the Humpty Dumpty syndrome to consider. We can crack the egg and scramble up the contents – but how will we put it back together again?
5. Isn’t there something a little unsettling about this metaphor – If the egg is my skull – do I really want to crack it open and start scrambling the grey stuff inside?I think not.
6. It doesn’t matter how much thinking we do about cracking the egg if we never get on with the work of changing. And this blog is evidence of that fact – it is a way of posting something despite not having done much "real work" on this question this week.
However, if I’m going to pursue this I know it will take discipline and consistent effort. And part of that is a commitment to a weekly blogging exercise to share things that may be of help to others – so for this week we’ll be a little silly and just think about cracking eggs. Any thoughts about that that I’ve missed?
Maybe by next Saturday I’ll have something more on this – or maybe not--
I'm thinking the this may be a tough egg to crack(pun intended)
God Bless
Charlie
Saturday, January 02, 2010
Cracking the cognitive egg
Well it’s the 2nd day of 2010. Hard to believe that we are entering the 2nd decade of the 21st century. I well remember the angst with which we entered the year 2000 (Y2K) – maybe a distant memory for many of you but not for those of us with direct responsibility for computer systems and all the concerns regarding wide spread disasters due to the 2 digit dates and the change in century.
As an aside much of that was hype and much of it was real. What amazed me most was the fact the IT people who had in a sense created the problem with a failure to think ahead far enough about the consequences of choices in selecting 2 digit year formats responded with tenacity and ingenuity and resolved most of the real problems –
Unfortunately corporate boards listened to the auditors and with a lack of understanding of the real issues believed a lot of the hype and over-reacted. Most senior IT people went along and spent a lot more time and money than was really warranted by the level of risk to things like power systems and airplane controls.
It was a bit like what I heard on the radio2 days ago as we were leaving to come home the morning of New Year’s Eve. The announcer said “the best thing to do tonight if you need to drive even if you are stone cold sober, is to treat everyone else on the road as if they are drunken idiots. Nobody wanted to take the chance that the rest of the world hadn’t done the due diligence in dealing with their Y2K issues and so they spent a lot of time in contingency planning and actions “just in case” something went wrong “out there”.
Well back to my main point for today. Most people at this time of year are either doing (belated) year end reviews or plans for the New Year.
In the past I have done both – and they take a lot of time --with uncertain value because I like many often lose sight of the lessons learned from the past and the focus on the goals I set in my plans.
So rather than set myself up for public failure by exposing those flaws to the “reading public” (Thanks Noel for letting me know that at least 1 person is still watching for my posts) I’m going to post the following item that I came across in a Bible discussion group that I’m involved with.
This is part of a post by "Dan Smith" on Berean Spirit where he provides an excerpt from a long paper "How to Train the Aging Brain" by Barbara Strauch .
“Educators say that, for adults, one way to nudge neurons in the right direction is to challenge the very assumptions they have worked so hard to accumulate while young. With a brain already full of well-connected pathways, adult learners should “jiggle their synapses a bit” by confronting thoughts that are contrary to their own, says Dr. Taylor, who is 66.Teaching new facts should not be the focus of adult education, she says. Instead, continued brain development and a richer form of learning may require that you “bump up against people and ideas” that are different. In a history class, that might mean reading multiple viewpoints, and then prying open brain networks by reflecting on how what was learned has changed your view of the world.“There’s a place for information,” Dr. Taylor says. “We need to know stuff. But we need to move beyond that and challenge our perception of the world. If you always hang around with those you agree with and read things that agree with what you already know, you’re not going to wrestle with your established brain connections”Such stretching is exactly what scientists say best keeps a brain in tune: get out of the comfort zone to push and nourish your brain. Do anything from learning a foreign language to taking a different route to work.“As adults we have these well-trodden paths in our synapses” Dr. Taylor says. “We have to crack the cognitive egg and scramble it up. And if you learn something this way, when you think of it again you’ll have an overlay of complexity you didn’t have before and help your brain keep developing as well.”Jack Mezirow, a professor emeritus at Columbia Teachers College, has proposed that adults learn best if presented with what he calls a “disorienting dilemma” or something that “helps you critically reflect on the assumptions you’ve acquired.”
Barbara Strauch is The Times’s health editor; her book “The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain” will be published in April.
I was moved to post this here – not because it is a new idea to me. Actually, my son who is working on his Ph. D. in neuropsychology had told me something similar almost 2 years ago and the “new route to work” and other such things have often been preached as ways to break free of habitual patterns and as a source of creative thinking.
I mention it because I have been pursuing new ways of looking at things related to God and the Bible (even if it doesn’t change my beliefs or behaviors although sometimes it has) for several years now.
In 2009, I have become aware of a need to do a similar re-examination of how I operate in relationships. I have ingrained behaviors that limit (or even are destructive) in relationships and I would like to break those “habits”.
My question to my self for 2010 is “how can I ‘crack the cognitive egg and scramble it up’ so as to create positive changes in my relationship behaviors” (or is this even possible)?
Any ideas out there?
As an aside much of that was hype and much of it was real. What amazed me most was the fact the IT people who had in a sense created the problem with a failure to think ahead far enough about the consequences of choices in selecting 2 digit year formats responded with tenacity and ingenuity and resolved most of the real problems –
Unfortunately corporate boards listened to the auditors and with a lack of understanding of the real issues believed a lot of the hype and over-reacted. Most senior IT people went along and spent a lot more time and money than was really warranted by the level of risk to things like power systems and airplane controls.
It was a bit like what I heard on the radio2 days ago as we were leaving to come home the morning of New Year’s Eve. The announcer said “the best thing to do tonight if you need to drive even if you are stone cold sober, is to treat everyone else on the road as if they are drunken idiots. Nobody wanted to take the chance that the rest of the world hadn’t done the due diligence in dealing with their Y2K issues and so they spent a lot of time in contingency planning and actions “just in case” something went wrong “out there”.
Well back to my main point for today. Most people at this time of year are either doing (belated) year end reviews or plans for the New Year.
In the past I have done both – and they take a lot of time --with uncertain value because I like many often lose sight of the lessons learned from the past and the focus on the goals I set in my plans.
So rather than set myself up for public failure by exposing those flaws to the “reading public” (Thanks Noel for letting me know that at least 1 person is still watching for my posts) I’m going to post the following item that I came across in a Bible discussion group that I’m involved with.
This is part of a post by "Dan Smith" on Berean Spirit where he provides an excerpt from a long paper "How to Train the Aging Brain" by Barbara Strauch .
“Educators say that, for adults, one way to nudge neurons in the right direction is to challenge the very assumptions they have worked so hard to accumulate while young. With a brain already full of well-connected pathways, adult learners should “jiggle their synapses a bit” by confronting thoughts that are contrary to their own, says Dr. Taylor, who is 66.Teaching new facts should not be the focus of adult education, she says. Instead, continued brain development and a richer form of learning may require that you “bump up against people and ideas” that are different. In a history class, that might mean reading multiple viewpoints, and then prying open brain networks by reflecting on how what was learned has changed your view of the world.“There’s a place for information,” Dr. Taylor says. “We need to know stuff. But we need to move beyond that and challenge our perception of the world. If you always hang around with those you agree with and read things that agree with what you already know, you’re not going to wrestle with your established brain connections”Such stretching is exactly what scientists say best keeps a brain in tune: get out of the comfort zone to push and nourish your brain. Do anything from learning a foreign language to taking a different route to work.“As adults we have these well-trodden paths in our synapses” Dr. Taylor says. “We have to crack the cognitive egg and scramble it up. And if you learn something this way, when you think of it again you’ll have an overlay of complexity you didn’t have before and help your brain keep developing as well.”Jack Mezirow, a professor emeritus at Columbia Teachers College, has proposed that adults learn best if presented with what he calls a “disorienting dilemma” or something that “helps you critically reflect on the assumptions you’ve acquired.”
Barbara Strauch is The Times’s health editor; her book “The Secret Life of the Grown-Up Brain” will be published in April.
I was moved to post this here – not because it is a new idea to me. Actually, my son who is working on his Ph. D. in neuropsychology had told me something similar almost 2 years ago and the “new route to work” and other such things have often been preached as ways to break free of habitual patterns and as a source of creative thinking.
I mention it because I have been pursuing new ways of looking at things related to God and the Bible (even if it doesn’t change my beliefs or behaviors although sometimes it has) for several years now.
In 2009, I have become aware of a need to do a similar re-examination of how I operate in relationships. I have ingrained behaviors that limit (or even are destructive) in relationships and I would like to break those “habits”.
My question to my self for 2010 is “how can I ‘crack the cognitive egg and scramble it up’ so as to create positive changes in my relationship behaviors” (or is this even possible)?
Any ideas out there?
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