LEARN 21

Yesterday I LEARNed that my company laid off another large number of key employees.

These people are well-known in the company, in the industry.  They take with them a huge amount of industrial knowledge, and that makes me sad.  They will take relationships when they go, people they know, history they remember...  all things that can't be replaced as we grow and expand and recreate our business.  Who will I call when I need to know about something that happened 20 years ago in our company?

I'm aware that things change.

Things need to change.

But I don't have to like it...

And I don't.

I find it more difficult in some ways to deal with change as I get older, and at the same time, I feel as though in some ways, I adapt more easily.  Yes, that's as 180 degrees opposite as you can get, but it's me, folks, it's all about me...

Seriously, it is hard for me to accept change, whether it's a new employee (or hundreds of new employees), or something as minute as a change in my flight schedule...

Which brings me to LEARNing patience...

I'm patient, y'all, I really am.  I can wait, I can hold out for the longest time...  But when there's no reason on God's green earth to put me off about something, NO, I DON'T deal well with that at all... 

And I've LEARNed, too, that I have WAY less tolerance than I used to have.  I was much more accepting when I was younger.  I've LEARNed as I get older, there's less time to fix things, so why break them in the first place?  Why risk a relationship?  Why hurt someone's feelings?  Why do anything negative at all?

I find myself very irritated when someone does something thoughtless or inconsiderate.  I find it hard to forgive and forget.  I don't think I'm at the holding-a-grudge point yet, but I know that's right around the corner...  I feel it coming...

I need to LEARN to be more patient, more accepting, more forgiving.  I'm not blind to my faults - I know there are things and people I'll have a hard time forgetting, but all those little things (road rage, anger when I can't control or manage something so it turns out the right way/my way...), those little things - I need to LEARN to let go.  I need to LEARN to accept.  I need to LEARN to deal.

There's still a lot to LEARN out there, in that big ole' world...