Jodi Krangle

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Jodi@VoiceoversAndVocals.com

self-improvement

Know Your War

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      Know Your War - Jodi Krangle - voiceoversandvocals.com

What do I mean by that?  Well, I just finished watching another of Donald Miller‘s really informative Business Made Simple Daily Videos on How To Control Your Emotions (I’ve included the YouTube video below) – and he makes a lot of really helpful comments. If you’re focused on arguing your point, “winning” the smaller battle, you lose sight of the WAR.  And by that, I mean the BIGGER PICTURE.

Now, I’m a generally peaceful person, and I really don’t like talking about war in general, to be honest … but as I mentioned in a previous blog, pushing past my comfort zone helps me grow.  So I will say that in this day and age of high emotions and polar opposites, of people finding it difficult to meet in the middle, there’s a temptation to be angry.  All the time. I get it.  But there’s another way to think about this.

You have an ultimate goal – whatever that goal is.  It’s a big, lofty goal.  It’s may even be something that would help a lot of people and not just your inner circle.  If you get distracted by the small battles happening around you so that you lose sight of that goal … you’ll never reach it.    Not only that, but you might cost *other* people the war.

Mr. Miller equates this to a football game where a veteran player is being harangued by a younger player, wanting that veteran to get into an altercation with him so that he can be distracted.  But the veteran won’t let himself be distracted.  He knows that if he gets a penalty here and now, he might cost his team the game.  So he doesn’t give that small battle any attention.  He focuses on the bigger picture.  He keeps his goal firmly in mind, and he concentrates on that.  That concentration – that visualization – keeps him on point.

Now, I’ve certainly been guilty of this distraction myself.

I’ve been Keto for almost three years now.  In the beginning of my journey, when I found that this way of eating was the only thing that worked for me, I would talk about it everywhere.  I would try to tell people that every ailment under the sun might be cured, if they’d just give this way of life a chance. I imagine it’s similar for people who newly find and adore a particular religion or a particular political candidate.  And I understand the compulsion.  I HAD it, after all.  And nutrition can be a really contentious topic – ESPECIALLY now.  But after a couple of years, that need to “spread the word” simply became less and less of a compulsion.  Not because I stopped caring.  Mostly because I got caught up in some of the little “battles” of trying to explain my position and present logical arguments … that others weren’t really interested in hearing.  The drama was simply distracting me.  My WAR was actually a pretty personal one.  Ultimately, I’m after improving my own overall health.  That’s it.  Others can do whatever works for them.  My larger goal of personal health wasn’t being served by being distracted.

I’m not saying that engaging in respectful discussion of a topic between people who hear one another, isn’t warranted.  Not everyone is going to agree and that doesn’t make them bad people.  It’s educational to hear other perspectives and have respectful conversations.  But when there’s drama involved (name calling, finger pointing, personal attacks… that sort of thing), it’s really not doing your blood pressure any good to engage.  And it just might be time to take a step back and look at the “discussion” objectively.  Is this serving a purpose of some kind?  Is it getting you to your end goal?  If not, disengage.  You truly do have better things to focus on.

Controlling your emotions doesn’t mean not feeling them.  It just means that you don’t let them rule you.

Know what your overarching goal is and keep it in mind as you go through life.  And don’t think your overarching goal can’t change.  No plan survives contact with the enemy, after all.  But if you control your emotions so you can control your focus – it might just help you win your own personal war.

Don’t Let Yourself Get Dilapidated

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      DontLetYourselfGetDilapidated-JodiKrangle - Jodi Krangle - voiceoversandvocals.com

I recently came across a fascinating article about an old concert hall, buried 40 feet below street level underneath a piano shop in Boston. In its heyday, it was surely beautiful.  Acoustically, it had every advantage.  (When you can craft an environment that far underground, silencing the city sounds above all but completely, it’s understandable!) And when it was built over 120 years ago, it was probably THE place to be and be seen by the Boston elite and the great musicians of the time.

Unfortunately, It’s been closed for over 70 years now.  Tragedy struck in 1942 when 492 people died in a horrific fire at a nightclub in that same city.  Building codes were especially stringent after that (understandably), and Steinert Hall, so far underground with so few exits and a seating capacity of 650 people, couldn’t possibly afford to renovate in order to meet those codes.  It’s been silenced so long that most people don’t even know it exists.  You can read more about Steinert Hall here.  There’s even a short video that takes you on a tour of the place (I’ve included it at the end of this blog).

Water damage has really done a number on this once beautiful gathering place.  And as the years pass, it’s only getting worse.  Could it have been restored or rescued if they’d taken it on as a project early on, before the damage had gotten so staggeringly bad?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  Hard to say.  Bringing it up to building code would certainly have been an expensive restoration, either way.  And it’s possible that they may yet try to do something with it.

Where did my strange mind go with this?  Back to that old chestnut of not putting off for tomorrow, what you could do today.  The longer you leave something, the harder it is to fix.  At this point, Steinert Hall may be a lost cause.  But who knows?  Maybe it didn’t have to be that way.

What are YOU putting off?  Do you want to change your career but it’s easier to just stay where you are without worrying about having to upgrade your skills so you can take the leap?  Do you want to finally start exercising more?  Eating healthier?  Do you want to learn how to play the guitar or piano or take singing lessons and just haven’t found the time?  Do you want to travel more?  Here’s the thing. The longer you wait, the harder it will be.  We as humans, naturally get complacent.  We’re hard wired to seek safety.  But it’s in pushing past safety that true growth happens.

As interesting as it is, watching the video about this once magical music hall just made me sad for all its lost potential.  Don’t let the magic in your own life be lost by putting off the things that could inspire you to grow.  Do them now.  Before it’s too late.