tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847766471903816400.post3585747774556537766..comments2010-09-15T11:55:41.133-07:00Comments on Eternal Dawn and Gloaming: It Is What We Make It.Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09423345754808210784noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847766471903816400.post-89802780718008128182009-04-23T11:10:00.000-07:002009-04-23T11:10:00.000-07:00I had an interesting experience with that disturbi...I had an interesting experience with that disturbing phrase "it is what it is." The day after you posted this and I read it, I was getting ready to leave Teavana to move up to Berkeley. My Store Manager, Mykol, helped me carry some things out to my car (you know, like the cash register) and he and I started talking about our individual future plans.<br /><br />He was kind of getting screwed by the company and getting replaced by someone else. He had been given a raw deal by his supervisor, put in a really tough spot without support, and then criticized for not doing well. As we talked about it, his conclusion was, "well, it is what it is." <br /><br />I kind of chuckled to myself because I had just read this post and then corrected him, "Screw that, Mykol. It is what you make it. Learn from this and move on, don't just let it be what it is."<br /><br />He looked at me quizzically, but then comprehended what I was saying. "Yeah, I guess you're right," he said, "although I just meant that there's nothing I can do to change what's already been done."<br /><br />So does that mean people should say "it was what it was?" I still don't think that makes any sense. I think it still just becomes "It was what we made it."<br /><br />Great post, Dave.Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09423345754808210784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6847766471903816400.post-60670940156042998352009-02-19T10:20:00.000-08:002009-02-19T10:20:00.000-08:00Dave, what's really funny is that the ONLY place I...Dave, what's really funny is that the ONLY place I've ever heard the phrase, "It is what it is" is at work ... and it was used in exactly the way you describe "blue is blue." In other words, they used it correctly. <BR/><BR/>That being said, I think your point is spot-on. All things "are as they are" due to the habits we have formed. At work, processes get put into place, and years later people are still following the processes without question ... though the processes have little use in today's world. To have the courage to challenge those things is very important. <BR/><BR/>Actually, what I find even MORE important is practicing the ability to RECOGNIZE habits. One cannot challenge a thing without first recognizing that that thing has something about it that needs challenging. Our minds are structured to fall into habits very easily. So sure, we spilled the milk. It always spills. That's just how it goes. But why is that? Most people don't even recognize that the spilling of the milk IS the habit itself. And all habits need examining, for the very reasons you stated.<BR/><BR/>I think of anger as a great example. Let me tell a quick story about someone who I've never met -- who I've never seen -- though who is still a hero to me. A Tibetan Buddhist monk was detained by the Chinese in the 1970s. In the early 2000s, they finally released him, and he went to Dharamsala to visit the Dalai Lama. He had been tortured repeatedly over the 30 years of his confinement, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The Dalai Lama asked him what the most difficult thing was about the entire experience. The monk replied that the most difficult times occurred when the thought arose in his mind to stop loving the people who were torturing him. The monk continued, (I am paraphrasing) "If I had let my anger flourish, I never would have made it through alive. Instead, when those thoughts arose, I recalled that these men were humans, doing what they were doing due to the habits they had developed and the lives they had led to this point. While they were torturing me, I had no reason to be angry with them. They knew no better. I still loved them." <BR/><BR/>First, this exemplifies a man who recognizes habits for what they are, and is willing to challenge them at every turn. He understands their nature, and recognizes that just because it might "be natural" to be angry with these men, he is willing to challenge the fundamental idea that the "natural" response is natural at all.<BR/>- MikeMikehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17934386917419130389noreply@blogger.com