Discovering Who We Really Are

We're almost done with the first week of 2012. After this, the year won't be that new after all...

In the previous post, I mentioned a STOP DOING LIST that Jim Collins considers the best new year resolution one can ever have. Well, today's post further explores similar thinking, all in the spirit of effecting enduring change in our lives.

Yeah, change. You see, we do not change who we are. What changes is aspects of our lives. I can change much of what I say, do or think. I however remain Pete R Njenga. A recent update on Twitter by @Amasy got me thinking...

For many of us, we have many things we need to stop doing. In fact, most of these things are addictions and bad habits that have taken control of our lives. It should be noted that in this context, an addiction is anything one is compelled to continually do, even if it feels good [but ain't right], at a time for and using energies that should be directed towards other things.

Reading Safe Haven [PDF] which is part of the personal stories in the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book, the featured alcoholic who lost nearly all continues to say:

Now willing to listen and take suggestions, I have found that the process of discovering who I really am begins with knowing who I really don't want to be.

I've realized that I cannot go back and make a brand-new start. But I can start now and make a brand-new end.

RIP Bob

Bob [foreground] and Amy [background]

In other news, one of my dogs died yesterday evening. He has been quite unwell since late last year and had lost significant weight. But he stayed strong till the end...
Despite medication, I bet that transition, much as I'd rather he didn't die, was for the best. Remember Steve Jobs saying the death is life's change agent?

I laid Bob to rest soon after his death just after sunset. I took time to recall all the good times we've had since I adopted him and his twin sister Amy in September 2010.

Bob, Amy & Fifi in Sep 2010

That was just a month after Locke died.

Locke and Fifi in August 2010

I then recited the following poem by Mary Elizabeth Frye, as I did when I buried my favorite cat Miau miau on a Tuesday morning, following his demise minutes before midnight on Monday, October 03, 2011.

 Miau miau [black] and Fifi [grey] 

Do not stand at my grave and weep,

I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.

Amy and Fifi are still around to keep me company and hopefully produce more offspring [they're both female].

Alright good people. Have a lovely Thursday!
:)

New Beginnings, Taking a Different Road

"Closing time

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."

- Closing Time by Semisonic

Change is Constant
Every so often, I find myself going through changes. Some of them are far-fetched, some require lots of input, some are inevitable and yet others are mere enhancements to what is already fine, but can get better with a little tweak here and there.

As previously stated on this blog, I recently decided to let go of a big part of my life, to be better placed in attaining my goals in life. Not everything I have had to relinquish has been of no use, but as happens many times in life, I had to let go of many things I really wanted in order that I may gain what I really need.

New Beginnings?
Interestingly, I keep wondering just how NEW these beginnings are. After careful consideration, I realize that NEW is not what's really important. What matters is that it is a beginning.
From the Safe Haven personal story in the Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book, the alcoholic in question realized the following,

I cannot go back and make a brand new start. But I can start from now and  make a brand new end.

Taking a Different Road
For those who subscribe to the Christian faith like yours truly, Kathy Troccoli's A Different Road captures the very essence of change - change that is inspired and unrelenting.



Are you in need of change in your life? Do you feel that there is need to begin walking a different path? Well, you can start right now and by so doing, make a brand new end.