The ONE Constant in the Universe

Have you ever heard the story of the great king? In his later years, he began feeling great inner turmoil and perhaps his own mortality. The king called forth a powerful wizard to fashion him a magical amulet that would empower him to deal with any situation. He desired something that would alleviate suffering and provide great wisdom and perspective. Only a few days later, the wise wizard returned to the king and presented him with a small box. The king opened the box and took out a simple gold ring. Feeling as though the wizard had played him for a fool, he examined the ring more carefully. Upon discovering and reading the inscription on the ring, the great king smiled, stood up and bowed to the wise wizard. What was inscribed on the ring? The words: “And this too shall pass.”

Whether it’s a difficult situation, an unfamiliar experience or even something blissfully happy ... it will pass. There is only ONE constant in the universe -- change. Knowing this we have two choices: We can accept and embrace change, or we can resist and fight change and face the consequences.

When we resist change, we stop our evolutionary progress. We confine our overall experience to a limited bubble, hindering our ability to learn new things. In fact, the “new” is defined by constant change; by resisting change, we miss out on all the exciting, fun, and magical experiences the “new” represents. Resisting change also inhibits our ability to become great leaders. Those that fight change are confined to lives as followers because a fundamental role of leaders is to influence positive change. Resistors of change can’t have much fun either, since one of our basic human needs is variety, something a person who fears change will inherently avoid.

And what about those who embrace change with open arms?

These people are having all the fun. They are the leaders of each generation who boldly progress forward -- blazing new frontiers, trying new things, failing often, but constantly charging ahead. Although an embracer of change may flinch initially when the “new” presents itself, he quickly acknowledges his primal fear and lunges forward. These people are constantly learning and growing; their abilities to solve problems quickly are a result of having the flexibility to alter their point of view.

A very simple, yet powerful three-step process can help you embrace positive change. This little strategy can transform your business practices and every other area of your life:

1) Try lots of stuff.
2) Keep what works.
3) Discard the rest.

Stay open to change and be prepared to embrace the “new” when it’s appropriate. With resilient power, you will begin to chart your course through the great abyss of unknown exploration. What an incredibly fun life adventure!

Happy Journeys!
Scott Jeffrey

Exploring Life’s Meaning

What does it mean to be grown up? For most people it means you’re less fun because you act more serious -- something to do with that “responsibility” stuff. You lose a part of yourself that makes life a glorious gift: Your sense of fun and adventure. Scarily, most grown-ups have no clue what they’re missing. They’re lost. They can’t remember how much fun life can be. You can’t blame them either.

Look at the social conditioning all around us. For example, we go from elementary school to junior high school, junior high school to high school, high school to college, and college to get a job and begin our career. We build our career to start a family, start a family to raise our kids, raise our kids so maybe they can continue our legacy and essentially begin the whole cycle all over again. Sounds a little monotonous, doesn’t it? The impact of this potentially life-draining, unconscious pattern on our overall quality of life should be our major concern.

Our culture has become completely obsessed with doing things just for the sake of doing them, with no greater purpose in mind. Most of us are floating through space and time with no true meaning. Perhaps we all need to pause, take a step back, look around, and survey what’s going on here. Myself included.

When was the last time you hung out in the presence of a baby? For me it was a few weeks ago. Little Sandy is about eighteen months old. With all the toys and constant stimuli Sandy had from the family throughout the day, he still spent the majority of his time staring up and pointing to the slow, spinning ceiling fan. With a room packed with endless toys and engaging, playful interaction, the fan enchanted Sandy. It wasn’t simply awe of the mysterious moving device; it was joy, passion, excitement and fun -- all the juices of life.

We go out of our way to try to “be successful” so we can have all those things that little Sandy gets by looking up at a fan. Hold on, perhaps I’m mistaken. Perhaps we no longer want those things. As adults, maybe we seek power, prestige and acknowledgement. Maybe we leave joy, passion, excitement and fun to the younger generations because adults don’t need that stuff. Maybe that’s what we tell ourselves.

I’ve been on that path of boring adulthood for some time. In fact, I’m writing this because I want to bring it all back -- the fun, passion, excitement -- and embrace a juicy new vision of life.

Your duty is to make the most of every precious moment. That’s your adventure: A magnificent quest to live each moment, as a joyous, glorious gift to be treasured for that moment alone -- for that is all you need.

Let your new Journey begin right now!

Scott Jeffrey