1. “A mule with aspirations ain’t worth anything.” - Bobby Lounge Imagine you have what you believe is a work animal. Then imagine that the work animal wants to be much more than a work animal. Bobby suggests that the animal now have no value. I might suggest that the value to oneself is merely different than what was inferred at the beginning. Maybe a person can release the animal into the stream, or find another who needs the animal with aspirations for their own?

  2. You cannot hope to recover, unless you believe that it is possible to recover. This is a summary of Jon Kabat-Zinn’s opinions about the potential value of making changes to a patient’s conditions, without knowing in advance what a person might want (or want to avoid) for themselves. That is, a medicine only has the power to make the conditions right for healing. It cannot HEAL on its own, if the person does not believe in the medicine, or in their personal potential to heal. The outcomes are thus far better if everyone is on the same page (both wanting to achieve some sort of recovery). I have the sense that Kabat-Zinn’s hypothesis holds influence also over corporeal conditions, as well as mental ones.

  3. It is difficult to reason with someone who is willing to SAY ANYTHING that they are told to say. A person who has made up their mind in this way is not willing to consider alternatives. And as the Conceptual Change literature suggests, a person must come to a crossroads with their person opinions before they are even willing to consider alternatives. And once in the state where a person BECOMES willing to consider alternatives, they are extremely vulnerable. The “teacher” now has the duty to treat that person carefully, not judge, etc., lest the person reject any reconsideration out of personal feelings (spite, resistance, feeling tricked), rather than rational thinking. Both forces are strong. Think of it like an insect molting out of their old shell into a larger one. There is a softness, and considerable vulnerability in that transition, until the new shell hardens. Soft shell crabs, too.

  4. It is difficult to contend with someone who is willing to DO NOTHING in the face of everything that might be done to motivate them. This one is a topic that I am convinced of, and have been for years, but cannot adequately explain why.

  5. “The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.” - Mark The greater tragedy here is where a person has not had any choice in the matter. A person who chooses not to read is one thing. A person PREVENTED from reading is quite another. A person who chooses not to learn to read is one thing. A person prevented from learning to read is another. In any event, I think Twain was trying to say that a person who fails to use their full set of tools / privileges to the service of their own self-improvement is no better than someone who doesn’t have the same set of tools. And I think Twain would have seen that failure to apply as a big problem.

Perhaps the theme this week is to know - deep in your heart - that you cannot hope to change someone who doesn’t want (or see the need) to change. And furthermore, to acknowledge that it may not be your place to affect the change in the first place.

Eyes front. Stay in your lane. Mind your Ps and Qs. Mind your own business, etc.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

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