The Invisible Mentor

Posts Tagged ‘Serenity Prayer’

This post is my seven reactions to, and applications for the idea of chaos which is one of the big ideas in 50 Big Ideas You Really Need to Know by Ben Dupre.

Many years ago meteorologist Edward Lorenz repeated part of a simple weather simulation through a program. He was surprised to find that the results were radically different from the previous results. His investigation showed that the computer rounded up the figures from six decimal places to three. “A minute difference in the initial condition had caused a major difference in outcome.” Lorenz’s simulation behaved in a chaotic manner. It was unpredictable. A meteorologist remarked that  if Lorenz’s ideas were correct then, “one flap of a seagull’s wings would be enough to alter the course of weather forever.” Lorenz wrote a paper (and also gave a speech) titled “Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly’s Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas?” The Butterfly Effect was born.

7 Reactions and Ideas About Chaos

1. One small action can have a ripple effect. What one small change can you make in your life to have a ripple effect?
2. Small changes can have a huge impact on your end result. You can also take small steps to achieve a cumulative effect.
3. Some things are beyond our control, do not waste time worrying about the things you cannot change. This reminds of the Serenity Prayer.
4. There is order within disorder.
5. In life there are many interconnections and interdependence.
6. What templates can you create to simplify your work and life? Models are created to repeat procedures. Here is Chris Brogan’s post on Automating the Easy Stuff, it may assist you.
7. What data do you have that you can use to forecast trends for your work?

If you cannot view the YouTube video on Chaos Theory click here.

If you cannot view this YouTube video of the Serenity Prayer please click here.

Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next. Amen.

ByReinhold Niebuhr

How can you use the idea of Chaos to create something wonderful? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

Further Reading

The Butterfly Effect

“Does the flap of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?”

Photo Credit: Google via Apture

Video Credit: Apture

Book links are affiliate links.

50 Big Ideas You Really Need to Know by Ben Dupre is the basis for this post.

In Mashable’s blog post (WordPress 2.9 Now Available for Download) they mentioned the new WordPress was now available. I went to my blog and chose automatic download, something I’d done a few times before. The message said upgrade was successful so I felt pretty good.

A few hours later I tried to log on to my blog and got a strange error message. I contacted the firm which hosts my blog, and I sent an SOS message to Cathy Tibbles from Desperately Seeking WordPress to fix my blog. I felt helpless and stressed because I didn’t know what was wrong and I didn’t know how to fix the problem. I knew that I had not done anything wrong.

It took a while for Cathy to diagnose the problem, and for my blog to be working again – over two days. I lost all my comments and had to recreate all my categories. But, I am grateful because my blog is working properly again. While my blog was down, I typed in the URL for my blog and got the message This Account Has Been Suspending, not the kind of message one expects to see. Since I could fix the problem with my blog, I simple let it go and I felt the tightness in my chest go away.

It was a difficult process, but I am very proud of the way I responded. There were times when I was frustrated, but most of the time I was very calm. During the process,  because my blog is working properly again. I was reminded of the Mark Twain quote, “Worrying about something is like paying interest on a debt you don’t even know if you owe,” and the Serenity Prayer.

The Serenity Prayer

By Reinhold Niebuhr

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

The Serenity Prayer has been adopted by Alcoholics Anonymous and some of the other twelve-step programs. The words of the prayer and the Mark Twain quote are very true. What are your thoughts? What are five things that you are stressed out about that you have no control over?

Too much stress prevents you from showing up as your authentic self, can you afford that? I would be eternally grateful if you would comment on blog posts that you have enjoyed so that I do not feel as if I am whistling in the dark. Let’s keep the conversation flowing.

Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over here (top on the left side) The Invisible Mentor and subscribe by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.