Here is a short quiz to help you determine
which side of the line you are on most of the time:
When faced with a life decision,
do you most often find yourself:
(a) Considering your options looking for
the best alternative that meets your needs, and then planning how to make
it come about; or
(b) Waiting until events transpire to
make one choice the obvious or only available option?
When a change in some area of
your life is needed, do you:
(a) Research and consider possible
solutions to the problem, consult persons with experience in this
situation whose opinion you respect, weigh the pros and cons and then make
the best informed decision you can at the time; or
(b) Hope that something will happen to
make the change unnecessary?
When challenging situations
arise, do you:
(a) Focus on what you can do to resolve
the conflict or problem; or
(b) Spend a long time sorting through
your feelings about the issue without really doing anything about it?
How many times have you felt
opportunity has passed you by because you didn't take action fast enough?
(a) That rarely, if ever, happens to me;
or
(b) That has happened to me more times
than I can count.
Have you ever found yourself in a
difficult situation wondering how things got like this?
(a) Not since I was a child; or
(b) Doesn't this happen to everybody?
If you discover you have more (b) than
(a) answers, you are probably running your life on a basis of
management-by-crisis. Who has time to plan their future when dealing with
real-life problems?
If you have been busy stamping out fires
lately, perhaps it is time to take stock of just how that fire got started
in the first place. Maybe you have simply lost sight of your life goals.
As the saying goes, "When you're up to your armpits in alligators, it is
difficult to remember that the original objective was to drain the
swamp." (I'm fairly certain the word was armpits.)
Take the time to align the life you are
living with the life you want. The steps you take in that direction
today are the foundation of the life you will be living tomorrow.
For more on this subject see Phoebe's column titled
Declaring Your Independence
