One of my biggest challenges.

In my first blog I stated that my wife says I am flexible.  Wow, I am glad someone thinks so because that has been one my most difficult challenges as I have grown older.  I believe most people become more rigid and "set in their ways" as they move into their "golden years" or the "twilight of their life" or become senior citizens or just plain old folks.

Early in my adult life I made a serious commitment to myself that I would not follow that pattern. It was my first year of teaching and I was fortunate to have a classroom near a veteran teacher. She was a great help to me as she offered advise in a constructive and non-critical manner.  She was well grounded and had her act together.  She was one of the most respected members of the faculty and of the community and she deserved every bit of that respect.


Unfortunately she feel just short of being the perfect teacher due to one flaw in her practice.  She simply could not cope with change.  If an assembly program ran over time or some unexpected event changed the class schedule, she would complain that even ten minutes of lost time would disrupt her schedule and her classes for the entire day.  I could only wonder why she could not just accept the changes and make the best of it. In the overall scheme of things, the students were usually better off because of the program or whatever had caused the schedule change for the day.  It was then and there that I made the commitment to do my best to be flexible and realize that the world does not revolve around me and my plans.

Unfortunately, as I got older, I found this more difficult than expected. I have recently found myself in forcing confrontations with people over minor changes in plans.   A sad fact is that I did not realize what I was doing. Looking back to my behavior in certain situations ten years ago, I really have regrets over my attitude and inabilty to accept changes.  I will admit embarasment as I think back on my behavior at times when a regular routine activity would be changed.

I am sure some damage has been done in my friendships with at least a couple of friends due to my inability to realize that I was not keeping my commitment to myself not to be so rigid and to be able to go with the flow and make changes as needed.  If you are reading this, and it applies to you, I ask that you please accept my apology.

 Unfortunately there may be some truth in the idea that we can not learn from the mistakes of others.  I had to make my own mistakes and learn from my own short comings and stupidity. With a better realization, it is my hope to do better in the future.