What Ladder Do I Want to Climb?

"If we live our life comparing ourselves with others, we can easily find ourselves climbing up a long ladder to the top of a building we aren't even sure we want to be on."  John Izzo PhD

I don't think that I'm very competitive by nature and so, while I like this quote, I was wondering if it applied to me.  Do I ever work really hard to try to be good at something I don't really care much about just because I don't want to be "less than" someone else? On the other hand, do I ever not work really hard at something that I do want to become good at because I am comparing myself in advance, and the ladder seems too high, or I'm just afraid of not being able to climb as high as someone else has on that particular ladder?

I expect that I am more likely to not try something for fear of not measuring up, or at least not trying my best because then, in my mind, I can feel like I could be as good at that talent as someone else if I really wanted to try.  Neither of these ways of handling life is the best!  I need to decide intentionally what I want to do, and what I want to learn, and then climb whatever "ladder" is required to succeed regardless of who else is or isn't on the ladder, or how high they might have already climbed, or how likely it is that I will catch up, and even if there is a chance of falling off!

The best plan is to get on the ladder that leads where I want to go, and then focus on doing my best to climb that ladder while helping anyone else on the ladder that I can!

*Photo by Marc Schiele on Unsplash

Old Knots and Bad Habits

The blinds.  Looking new again.

Today Kayli and I were fixing some broken blinds.  In order to do that, we needed to untie some knots that have been in the bottom of the blinds for over 20 years.  Those knots are what carries the weight of the blinds when they are lifted up and down.  Those knots were really, really hard to untie.  We were able to do it, but it was difficult.  Once they were untied, we could replace broken slats with new ones.

I got to thinking that those knots are like bad habits that we have allowed to stay for a really long time.  Bad choices that we have consistently made through the ups and downs of life.  The longer we have those bad habits, the harder they are to get rid of.  Not impossible, but really, really hard. 

Kayli and I tried to be patient.  We sometimes got frustrated.  But we persisted and the broken pieces of blind were removed, and replaced with unbroken slats.  Now the blinds look new, and work better.  We really can undo our bad habits.  It will take patience.  We may get frustrated.  But if we persist, that bad habit will be replaced with a good one.  The choices we make will be better.  Getting rid of a bad habit and replacing it with something good is like getting to be new again.  Unbroken.