Survivalism versus "Progressivism"

It hit me suddenly. The sheer obviousness of it is quite stunning. Yet I am sure that a lot of us "know" this without ever having explicitly thought about it. There are in fact two major approaches to life. I will call them the "survivalist" approach which simply wants to finish the day with life being as "same" as it can be to the day(s) before. Those folks simply want to end the day without having made a mistake, without having done something that they would regret. To them not doing the wrong thing is preferable to not doing anything. This is their "safe" zone, their comfort zone.

Then there is a different kind of beast altogether. To this person not doing anything is DEATH. To them it is better to have dreamed the big dream and made an effort to get there. To them the worst day is where they made NO progress, took NO risks, and made NO mistakes. they equate mistakes to "experience" and a day spent without gaining any experience is a day lost out of their lives. These are the "Progressivists". Life is no worth LIVING if it is not worth risking. They mouth phrases like "everyone dies... only few people really LIVE!"

Now the sad part. The world is moving at an ever increasing pace. Progress and risk taking is accelerating to the point where just to SURVIVE (the goal of the survivalists) one needs to try new things every day and at ever increasing odds. Does this mean that the survivalists are now on the horns of a very peculiar dilema? To survive they must take risks? What type of person are you? Do you want to make waves and change the world? Are you a romantic? Are you proud that you will retire in the same job you started your career in? Comments welcome.

The "Downsized" Disease

It always leaves me feeling the same way - sad for the state of the human race! All of us who have suffered the trauma of being terminated from a position for whatever reason know exactly what I mean and we have all vowed that WE would never do it to anyone else. I am referring to the contageous disease that society at large seems to think all those who lose their jobs for WHATEVER reason immediately contract. Those who still have a position seem to think that even eye-contact with the victim could immediately mark them too for this terrible affiction. They must all seem to feel that ANY association with people who have recently been "let go" from their organization (even private phone calls or personal e-mails) would be "found" and would mark them for the "kill" next time.

I have always believed in PEOPLE. They don't change suddenly if they are terminated. They are the same human beings that we knew, trusted, had lunch with etc. the day before. Their fate is not so uncommon these days and it could befall ANY of us. There is a wise saying about doing unto others... and I am always reminded of it when I see this behaviour.

I want to believe that this behaviour is the result of "not knowing" what to say and how to act with these folks. There is, on one side, a feeling of relief that it was THEM and not you. At the same time there is the guilty impulse that you don't want to show those feelings. One way to deal with this is to simply understand that YOU had nothing to do with the decision (unless you DID in which case you SHOULD think hard about how you handled the whole situation). I always try the direct approach. I say to the person "I am very sorry for your loss. I know you will bounce back because you are the same fine person today that you were yesterday to me. Let me know what I can do to help you in any way." I have found that this direct approach (of course followed with sincere actions to back up what I have just said) usually works and it cements a bond that is hard to break. The truth is that we will all be in such situations sometime. These moments help us find out the TRUE short list of REAL friends we have. And trust me, those are the friends we will help when their turn comes! The affliction is NOT contageous and it may actually be a good opportunity to make some lasting difference on earth.