Reinvention

Every day we reinvent ourselves. A bit here, a bit there, little by little the new you shapes a new future; even those dying, those with limited capabilities dwindling down to the inevitable day they cease to exist. Those we think are encased in poverty and hopelessness; they change continually. Oh, we don’t notice it because we aren’t looking. We see poverty, disability and limited lives as static.

But then, we see ourselves that way, too, don’t we? I know, I know; we fix things daily, do our chores and think of better times ahead. We educate ourselves in schools, take classes and follow a routine laid out for us by schools and parents. But do we really intentionally change for the better?

I watch kids gravitate to whatever captures their interest. I watch their rapture with technology. I wonder how this will help them morph into capable, achieving adults. Years later we see the change. The grandchild who never did his homework. The youngster who screamed through frequent tantrums insisting on doing things his way. The lack of discipline, self or parental; we tsk-tsk our way through these incidences and wonder how this kid will turn out.

Well, unbeknownst to us, that kid internalizes his interest in technology and gaming with interpersonal relations and logic of engineering. He turns out to become an engineer, a project manager, a whiz kid in some small part of corporate life and succeeds very well.

Same with disabled or differently abled. The autistic child who focuses attention on one or two very specific areas, becomes a highly sought-after analyst in strategy, project management or something else in high demand. They don’t become the manager or executive of a larger organization, but they do become a highly valued specialist whose talents are networked among need organizations. Continually.

The kid who went on to college eventually and majored in all the wrong studies; he wound up with a degree that had nothing to do with his career life. However, the educational process taught him how to think and he used that to adapt to whatever present situation he found himself in. He changed with the needs surrounding him, or her.

We see ourselves infrequently. We do not plan our lives. We do live day by day with every now and then intentionally changing course. Somehow, we take actions that unintentionally take us elsewhere. We end up years later understanding what career route actually happened. How much of it was planned? Not much for most of us.

Same with marriages, parenthood, neighborliness and religious faith. We grow into ourselves. Some people are blessed with ‘easy rides’ and move swiftly to higher levels of development and career success. Most of us muddle onward, learn to enjoy life on its terms and survive. We make it. We succeed in one fashion or another.

Did I plan on being a specialist in nonprofit organizations? No; it just happened because I was interested in the outcomes those organizations fought for. Did I plan to become a specialist in strategic planning? No; I simply wanted my organizations to be more effective and less wasteful of resources and effort. Did I even know I was becoming successful in these arenas? No; I allowed it to happen, and it did.

We change bit by bit. Over the years we make worthwhile lives. We come to value those outcomes and find happiness in them. Each of us. Sometimes consciously, most times by accident.

Taken together, we reinvent ourselves and by association our organizations, corporations, and communities. The social order seems the same. But it is not.

That’s a good thing.

September 7, 2022

 

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