A good toolbox is stocked with tools which may seem to have
contradictory uses. A ripsaw makes things jagged and
separate. But a sander makes things smooth, and a clamp holds things
together.
A ripsaw doesn't negate a sander or a clamp. A sander
doesn't invalidate a ripsaw. A clamp doesn't contradict a
ripsaw. And neither does a sander or a clamp "agree" with
each other.
They're all just tools. You use them if they
work
for the job at hand. And if they break you get new ones.
You give a monster a lot of space (as
Werner Erhard may have
said)
but you give a friend intimacy. You speak so you're known as your
word
but you stay silent so you're not known as a
gossip.
You're gentle with children who come to you but you're ruthless and
unswerving with adults who assume your integrity is up for grabs.
There isn't just one option when you're inventing yourself
as your
word.
There isn't one right way to do it. When it comes to
inventing yourself as your
word,
it's not useful to consider what the right
way to do it is. Rather, what's useful to consider is a way to invent
yourself as your
word
which
works.
Try on ie test drive the
Zen
approach. Look to the pragmatic rather than simply to the
correct. One of the first things you notice when you intently
observe
the pragmatic is what
works
in one situation may not
work
in all situations. Even natural life sustaining actions
aren't always consistent. It's alright, for example, to open your lungs
and take a deep breath of air. Just don't try that
underwater without
scuba.
It's alright, for example, to put your hand on a stove. Just don't try
that when it's hot.
It's a natural tendency to grab on to what we've figured
outworks
and then to make a recipe ie a strategy out
of it. But the trouble with the itemized list of instructions which
comprise recipes and strategies is they only work when they do.
When you're looking into the toolbox selecting a tool, it's not
smart to select a tool just because you selected it
last time ie just because it was useful last time, just
because it
worked
last time. It may have
worked
then with that job. But it may not
work
again now with this job. It especially won't
work
now if this job isn't the same as that job.
A screwdriver won't sand a floorboard. A hammer won't sharpen a knife.
Understanding is a useful tool in police detective work. When it comes
to transformation, understanding is the booby prize.
Rather than select the tool based on what
worked
with that job, you select the tool for this
job based on what's wanted and needed now. Notice the tendency
to make the tool which
worked
last time significant.