You can learn a lot from buses.
None come for ages and then three come along at once. So, when they do, you notice them.
It can be the same with ideas or promptings about things we need to pay attention to.
So, if you notice the same or a similar idea coming into your head several times from seemingly unconnected sources- it can be useful to pay attention to them.
Yesterday for instance, at my local Quaker meeting, one of the themes was simplicity – of leading a full life that takes delight in life’s simple – and often priceless- treasures.
This morning –less than 24 hours after this reminder of the joy and benefits of simplicity, I had promised myself an early start in the study but my computer had other ideas. It refused to power up. The red eye of the answerphone had dimmed and it was clear that I had no power – at least in that part of the house. So, I began my usual check of other electrical points/lights (my house has what seems to me a rather arcane arrangement as far as wiring/the fuse box goes) and narrowed the problem down to the fuse box. Aha! Just as I thought, one of the switches had tripped. I reset it and went enthusiastically back to my study and tried again. Nothing. My computer still appeared lifeless. Back to the fuse box and more fruitless fiddling around. Nothing doing. I am now beginning to get rather twitchy – imagining electricians, large bills and delays to my work schedule. I’m wondering whether I can make do temporarily with an extension lead or two .
And it’s when I’m crawling around under my desk working out which lead goes with what that I notice that the red light on my power surge protector is not glowing – not because of any electrical fault, but because it has been switched to the ‘off’ position – presumably by one the cats when they had their mad half hour last night and were scampering round for all they were worth. Problem solved – and life happily restored to my computer and my day is back on track.
So, by now I’m beginning to think – aha, maybe there’s message here for me about not making things more complicated than they need to be. About not overlooking the common place, the everyday, the simple solution.
And eventually (modem problems aside – but let’s not go there) when I finally got into my email I found this
If something is simple,
...it is more likely to be practical
If it is practical,
...it is more likely to be used
If it is used,
...it is more likely to make a difference
So look at things you want to do, changes
you want to make. From the perspective
of those who need to do it, is it simple?
Hint: you might need to ask them :-)
This came to me via Paul Matthews at www.peoplealchemy.co.uk though Paul’s accompanying note said that the idea came courtesy of a chat he had recently with Peter Honey
Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.
Albert Einstein
Simple, really !
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