Turning a Corner

Are you in a position in life where you are turning a corner? If you are, it won’t do you any good if you are going in circles. You just can’t turn a corner if you are going around and around.

Put another way, if you are cleaning the toilet, you often have to flush it first; otherwise you may be just swishing around the mess that existed before you decided to clean it.

There are times when we decide we have to make some changes in our lives. We want to make our life better. These often involve taking some risks.

My feeling, though, is that as much as we can change the circumstances, if we are unwilling to recognize our need to change ourselves and adapt to the new surroundings, we will make same mistakes that got us in the situation in the first place.

For example, let’s say I buy a puppy and try to train it. After six months of working with the dog, he just won’t obey. I finally decide to get rid of him. He is just too much to handle.

I really want a dog, so I buy a new puppy. In most cases, unless you correct the mistakes you made with the first dog, you will be faced with the same situation again. While the temperament of the pooch may have a lot to do with his ability to be trained, more likely than not, it is your training methods that are to fault. If you don’t recognize this and change, you will be in for trouble.

On a more personal note, as an occasional teacher, I had great difficulty with many classes when I first started. Some days I got a cushy assignment, but most days left me shaking my head. I could have decided to reject classes that gave me a hard time, but I want to be the best teacher I can be. To me, that means being able to handle any situation. The only way I can learn to do this is to be faced with all challenges.

Every day is not perfect, but almost all of them are very enjoyable. Yes, I turned a corner. That corner involved asking a principal to come into my classroom and tell me what I was doing wrong. I also did a lot of asking questions and trial and error every time a day didn’t go so well. If I hadn’t done this, I would have been just going around in circles.

So, do you really want to turn a corner in your life? Then realize that the change that has to be made will not only be external, but internal, as well. It is not only about your environment and others. It is about you, too.