Highly Effective

There is a lonely beach just outside the window where I slept. It is a beach that would mesmerize any wanderer, day or night, and the SconeLady was no exception. In daytime there were the surfers, running swiftly down and down to where the waves awaited them. Strangers all, they were still a sort of 'team' with one plan in mind: catch it, and stay on it for as long as possible. However cold it may be, they are never deterred.

And then there were the children, jumping in and out of the coldness of the water - in swimsuits! As I walked past in my layers and thick coat (+wool scarf and perhaps even gloves), there they would be, splashing, undaunted and bold. And the parents? BUNDLED. Sitting snuggled up at a distance. Watching with awe as their offspring immersed themselves in the freedom that is a beach.

The 'lonely' part of this beach comes in the early mornings and evenings, when the crowds drift away and the lone walker can take it all in undisturbed. This, alone, is probably what brings the SconeLady back. The ocean. Filled with change, and yet changeless. Usually I don't listen to anything whilst wandering here. It seems a waste to have an audio source disturb this peace. 

But once, accidentally, I was listening. And someone was going on about how if a famous and frightening group of people (unnamed here) would only read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, they might stop their evilness. This brought me up a bit, and I kept listening in spite of myself. The idea was that if they would only 'Think win-win', 'Seek first to understand, then to be understood', and 'synergize' (work together with others and be nice), their badness could become goodness. I was astonished. WHY hadn't someone THOUGHT OF THIS BEFORE?? Just tell abductors and murderers to 'be nice', 'work with others', and be understanding, and they will!

I switched it all off, and gazed out. A walker strode along with his dog. It was a Golden Retriever, heeling faithfully and wagging his doggy tail to beat the band. The whole idea of learning a list of 7 different habits in order to be effective was suddenly exhausting. I strolled, praying, and thought of how perhaps the Ten Commandments might be of more use here. Starting with 'you shall have no other gods before me', that list pretty much says it all.

Much more sensible.

See you along the Way!

the SconeLady