Excuse Me, But Do You Have Change For A Dollar?

“The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.”

            -Charles F. Kettering

A few weeks after my 18^th birthday, on December 24, 2000 at approximately 4:30 am my life changed forever. I had just fallen asleep at the wheel of my moms mini van. I was awoken by a loud noise, just as my car jumped the curb going what was estimated at around 60 mph. I quickly turned the steering wheel to avoid a telephone pole, which caused me to crash into an  iron gate. My front driver side tire, flew completely off, about 75 feet in front of where my car was wedged between the gate and telephone pole. I got out of the car, as if I were in a dream. Very shaken up, I did not know what to do. The police came and the officer told me to walk to line (typical procedure for car accidents by teenagers at 4:30 am). After walking extremely crooked the officer asked me had I been drinking. I quickly responded no. He asked me once again, and this time he told me to tell the truth, in a split second but what seemed like an eternity so many thoughts went through my mind, but I confessed, “Ye-Yes sir I was drinking tonight.” The officer looked at my father, who came as quickly as I called him to let him know I was in a accident, who then turned to me with a look that will haunt me forever, I just knew my life was over. Little did I know, my life had just begun.

            The day before Christmas, I went out with some friends and we all got drunk. It just happened that I was the one that drove that night. I got drunk, fell asleep at the wheel, and possibly could have killed myself. Had the car swerved to the left and not the right, I would have taken out a doughnut shop with about 20 innocent bystanders getting their fresh coffee before they went to work. Most people are as fortunate as I was, I was one of the lucky ones, I got my second chance.

            I am not saying that I have all the answers, because I do not. I do know that it took a glimpse at death to change my life. Before December 24, 2000, I never thought twice about drinking and driving, I had done it many times before. I just knew I would do ok. Of course I have heard stories about people who have been killed while drinking and driving, but I was too naïve to the fact that it could happen to me. Reality finally hit, it came in the form of a black iron gate. That is what it took for me to realize there was a serious problem. I am not saying that everyone who drinks and drives should fall victim to this life treating incident, but if it will wake some people up and make them change, then bring on the gates!

            Why is it that we refuse to try something different? Everyday people do what they are accustomed to, even though it may not have been in their best interest.   It has to be the same thing over and over and over again. We wake up, have a cup of coffee, read the newspaper, get dressed, drive to work, sit at a desk all day long from 9am until 5pm. That is a daily routine of many Americans in the working field. For some strange reason they enjoy that. People enjoy a  routine life. It is not limited to a JOB, which I consider to be “Just Over Broke.” It can range from anything and everything; from a person’s eating habits or a person use with drugs and alcohol. There are people that will pay an enormous amount of money for whatever product it is, simply because they do not want to even try something else. How do you know your moms apple pie is the best, when that is the only pie you have eaten? More simply put we like things that we are used to and afraid to try new experiences.  For one, it gives us a sense of security and stability. Two, we rarely think anything is ever wrong with our life. And three, we are all scared of the “C” word. That’s right, CHANGE, not the kind we get when we give the lady a $5.00 bill for our morning cup of Starbucks Coffee and she gives us back a quarter. I am talking about a process reengineering type of change, throwing away our set and planned out schedules type of change. A change where it is ok to think and act differently then the set “norm.” I can understand not wanting to change in some cases, those rare occasions where everything is honestly going well. I say honestly because many times people are in denial and will make themselves think everything is ok, when actually it is not. Overall, the majority of the time, change is the only thing that will ever help us to get to where we want to go.

            Change has so many positive effects that we are  stupid for not changing. Change has brought many new ideas into the world. Without change we would not have advancement and growth. Without those two, where would we be? Things would not have been invented, we would never have known about the many interesting things this world has to offer. The great motivation speaker and best selling author Dr. John C. Maxwell put it best when he said, “You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine”(Success, Maxwell). We have this misconception that if we do the same thing everyday, we will get a different result. Unfortunately the world does not work like that. We must do something different to get a different result. There is a story of a man that came home from work and everyday he would park under the same exact tree. Every morning when he came out he found bird droppings on his windshield. This went on for weeks which turned into months and so on. Then one day he came to the realization that if he does not want to have bird droppings on his windshield he must find a new parking space. So the next day he parks only a few feet ahead of where his normally parks and what would you know, the next morning the windshield is spotless. All he had to do was drive a few extra feet past the tree and his car would be ok. Most of the time that is all it even takes is a few extra feet to change. It does not even have to be drastic or time consuming, even the simplest change can result in a marvelous and lasting effect. It is also very important to remember the words of Winston Churchill, “There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction.” People can change for the worst, but it is the change for the best in which we should try to attain.

            In the business world change is imperative. It will be very hard for a company to succeed if they never change. Change in the business world in inevitable. A company can ignore that fact and hope for the best results or they can change with the times and plan for the future. The second option being the best. If a company does not change I don’t now how they would expect to succeed. These days everything is extremely competitive and it would just be ignorant not to change. When business began to globalize, those companies that decided to take a chance and start to import/export with foreign countries they are the ones they have seen higher profit margins then compared with those that decided to stick with there USA based customers. I am not saying it is a bad thing  if a company chooses not to do business internationally, because at times it could work the other way, but on a majority basis it would behoove any company to make that change. Business is straying away from a task motivated way of doing business where it is work work 1000 hours a week. Don’t get me wrong, that may produce wonderful results and it may make some stockholders very happy, but business is becoming more personal and relationship motivated. Companies are now offering diversity training, and they encourage their employees to try new things. Although business has come very far it still has many more miles to travel.

            Recently there have been many corporate scandals. The CEO is doing what ever it takes to bring in the most revenue, even though it may not be the most ethical or moral. It is an especially good time for all businesses; huge corporations to small mom and pop shops to reevaluate their standards and objectives. After doing so they should come to the realization that change is desperately needed.   If they can at least make an attempt to change for the better then they are already on their way as being a competitive leader in the game.

To change ones life is to take a chance, hopefully at a better shot. People are so afraid to come out of their comfort zones and test the waters. So timid to view life from a different perspective. They live their life by the “What if” factor. It is good to be cautious, but it can also be detrimental to see the glass as half empty. Change can bring about so many wonderful opportunities. We need to live our lives with the anticipation of the possible positive outcomes and not the question of failure. When a new idea is brought up, it never fails there will always be one person that proposes the question, “What if it doesn’t work?” my response, “What if it does?” Until we allow ourselves to be taken out of this  bureaucratic matrix, which only limits our creativity, we will never be exposed to the true essence of life.

            It is good to break the mold, it is good to be different, and it is good to challenge the unchallenged. Taking risks should be encouraged. We need to grow and change. “If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living”(Sheehy, Business). I am on this planet to live, not to exist, but to live. There is a spoken word-poet that I really enjoy listening to. In one of his poems Steve Connell said, “Marion Jones, fast-go-fast-I-go so fast-that you get tired of watching me…what good is it for me to slow down, just for you to catch up.” Sometimes we just have to break the mold, go out on that fragile limb and leave everyone behind. If we want to change we should not be held back due to the few that stand as an obstacle in our path. Many times motivation or inspiration  is needed for this change to occur, what ever it is, it is imperative that if lost, it needs to be found.  

For me, motivation came in the form of a near death experience. I was shown that my life seriously needed a change. At the age of 18, about to graduate from high school I was faced with a problem in my life. I had two options. I could continue down the dead end path and throw all the I had worked for academically and athletically in the trash or I could have stopped what I was doing and move forward in pursuit of a better life. It may be a hard thing to do, but for me the decision came pretty easy. I was no longer going to drink especially drink and drive again. I had so much more life to live, I had so many people in the world that loved and cared for me that I would not let them down again. I had accomplished many goals, goals that many never thought I would reach, but I proved them wrong. After my accident I would hope that my friends would use me as an example and to stop this immature behavior of drinking. Unfortunately I was only able to touch the lives of a few friends, the others just could not see reality, or even worse they did not want to see it. I may have lost some good relationship with friends because there is no need for us to hang out, considering we were really only drinking buddies, but I would rather live for myself then to waste my life with others.  Now, two years later at the age of 20, everyday I make a commitment to positive change. I am on a quest for personal development and growth. I have come to the realization that Dr. Maxwell was right, if I want to change my life, I must change my daily routine. 

    So to answer your question, no I don't have change for a dollar, only change for a better life.

Sources:

Goodman, Ted. Ed. The Forbes Book of Business Quotations: Thoughts on the business of life. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 1997.

Maxwell, Dr. John C. Leadership 101: What every leader needs to know. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2002

Maxwell, Dr. John C. Success: One day at a time. Georgia: J. Countryman, 2000

Newton, Nigel. Business: The ultimate resource. USA: Perseus-Bloomsbury, 2002

Schermerhorn Jr, John R., James G Hunt, Richard N Osborn. Organizational Behavior. 8^th ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2003

Commentary: This is a real personal paper I really hope that you all can learn something from it Please do not be afraid of change, it can help

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