Well hello, stranger
This post started out as a rant after a long day at work, and it turned into a reflection post ๐. It just goes to show once again that we can always learn something from frustrating situations. So come along on my journey, maybe you'll gain something from my rant turned reflection.
"If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got. If what you are doing is not working, do something else - J. O'Conner"
Landscape photograph I took a while back on my way home from holiday. Peaceful and a reminder that there is always more to every situation. I might have been going back home, but life around me was still beautiful.
These past two days I've been in back-to-back meetings at work. I'm an Urban and Regional Planner but it's just a bit difficult as a young planner to change the minds of the older generations. We are currently working on new five-year development plans (SDFs) for a few municipal areas and all the towns in these areas are classified as rural, low-development towns. They survive on small-scale agriculture and occasional tourism... As a planner with a focus on regional development, I can tell you these towns need more economic development strategies.
We are currently communicating with the municipalities and the people, finding ways forward. Economic hubs, agri-centres, roads, industrial development, etc are being looked at, and for the most part, everyone is happy! Yes, there have been shifts in development, instead of following dead old processes, we've suggested new strategies, new layouts, and new focus areas. And you know what... some people were against it... "Why are you changing the process?", "Why do we need a new policy?" "Why did you decide to shift the urban edge?" "Why can't we have this development here, it was done like this in the old days?"... My friends, we were not in the "old days" anymore.
The issue that came up was a proposed development for a cemetery. We had a discussion on this for almost two hours. So a little background, cemeteries used to be close to residential areas, and as towns expanded new residential areas were built around these cemeteries. In today's day and age, this is not ideal. No, we are not moving the old cemeteries, just planning new ones on the edge of town or a bit further away. There are many reasons for this; we can use space in town for other activities, crime near cemeteries is usually high, what if it needs to expand?, it influences the housing market, and you have traffic during funerals... the list goes on. And of course, many people, like myself, want to leave the dead in peace.
We had one colleague that disagreed with us. It was suggested that we make space for a cemetery within the already-established residential area and on top of that move 25 years' worth of graves from the "old urban edge cemetery" to the new one in town. The reason for this is "It used to be this way back in the day". This would mean that we need to move more than 300+ families and go grave digging. Naturally, we were all against it. After the explanation as to why we said no, it was suggested that we demolish a mall for this new cemetery. Roasoning? "It used to be this way back in the day".
Despite all the comments as to why cemeteries within residential areas were not ideal, our colleague kept insisting that we must do it since "It used to be this way back in the day".
In the end, we did manage to get to a conclusion, voting on things helps ๐ . The new cemetery site was to be located just beyond the urban edge. The site is accessible, there are a few different churches close by, it's not located on a water body, it won't flood during heavy rains, and the dead can rest in peace.
What is my point with this?
Sometimes change is needed for us to go forward. "If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got. If what you are doing is not working, do something else - J. O'Conner"
If you want to move forward in life you may need to change a few things. You can't achieve new goals if you keep sticking to the old ways of doing things. No two goals will require the same "input", just because it worked this first time, doesn't mean it will work again.
I'm not saying forget everything and start doing each aspect of life differently, but go sit down and ask yourself "is this even working?". For us as individuals to move up the ladder in life we need to make changes even if it scares us.
Thank you for stopping by. I hope you gained something from this reflection/ rant. Until next time, stay safe and live a happy life!
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I agree with you totally!
The thought you used is one of my must haves!
To get different results you need to do different things... by always repeating the same things we will always get to the same point.
As a child I used to think this was only applicable in hard science such as chemistry. But this can be applied everywhere in daily lives! If you're always stuck in traffic, maybe take a different route ๐
I fully agree, plus it all helps to develop lateral thinking.
If you are stuck in traffic and there are no alternative routes... take advantage of the time to listen to an audiobook!๐
I love that initial quote. I use it so much against people that use so many excuses to never turn their life around. Saying you want to change your life isnโt enough, if you keep on doing everything the same, damned, way!
Nice one! ๐๐ป
I get frustrated with people who goes on about not getting anywhere with life, but they still doe things the way they did in highschool. Don't get me wrong, I also need to work on changing things to move up in life, but like you said, some people will always have an excuse as to why they don't change!
Principle of effectiveness and efficiency (productivity): Stop doing what does not generate benefits for you, and switch to another action; and move forward.
And the other: Evaluate ourselves, evaluate the path, evaluate the decisions.
These are points that we deal with in our community of C/Be Entrepreneur
By the way, this topic about cemeteries involves a lot of ethical, cultural and even religious reasoning. Difficult task!
Greetings from Venezuela @misshugo
It's a pleasure to follow you already.
It's true! Culture and religion makes planning for such things difficult. And here in South Africa we have so many different cultures. At the end we manage to find a middle ground, but getting to that point is a task of its own ๐คฏ.
Have a great day!
It is true, in each of the different situations we live, we always have a learning experience for our spiritual growth.
What generally happens is that cities grow, but do not develop, because there is no planning according to the reality of each city, taking into account the potentialities that cities may have, as well as their different weaknesses.
Thank you for sharing your anger turned into reflection, my dear friend.
Yes! Cities grow but they do not develop, and we need to make sure we assist in developing with planning. And like you said every city will have a different weakness and these need to be looked at to make sure the city can develop and not just grow.
Hello,
I once had a little discussion with an older person I admired who is now no longer with us and he said that very phrase "It used to be this way back in the day".
On one occasion, to make him see that things evolve by being my interlocutor, a farmer I asked him how many times a week he was mowing the weeds with a scythe. He told me that he was not doing it at all now. To which I answered that he always cut the grass with a scythe until one day things changed and evolved for the better.
I hope this example will help you in case of a similar situation.
!PIZZA
This is n great example. And it's very easy to understand, and think when we get to "big deal" situations older generation tend to not understand the need for change. Explaining it by use of an everyday task will help them understand the bigger picture as well.
Thanks for sharing your wisdom! ๐๐ง
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Thank you for shearing your contents @misshugo. Very interesting your reflection.
Thanks for stopping by! ๐ง