MAC Wk 3 - The Way Things Are

Reading chapter 7 of Ben Zander's The Art of Possibility entitled: The Way Things Are was really the first time while I was reading that I began to disagree with him a little. I don't necessarily think that you should always simply accept the way things are. Zander compared human beings to the animals in Babe and said that the duck speaks for most of us when he says that "The way things are stinks," but I disagree. I believe that one of society's biggest problems is that too many people act like the cow and accept things that they should not accept. There are way too few people in the world trying to change things. Of course, if you just complain about how much things stink, you won't get anywhere either. I understand that Zander is saying not to simply accept things like the cow does, but not to live in denial about the world. It reminds me of the 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."

The key here to me is the wisdom that Zander fails to mention - maybe it will come later in the book. His point is a little clearer to me later on when he discusses glasses that are half empty and half full. What he is really trying to say is that all we need to do is change our attitude, our perspective on the world and our circumstances. I think the key is not to accept the way things are, but to understand why things are the way they are. If we understand why, then we can know the difference between what we can change and what we can't. Focus on the why.