The Time to Take Action

I just read about the Air Traffic Controller
who was watching a movie while working, and
the article discussed other traffic control
concerns.

When I read it, there were several things that
came to mind, not the least of which is a
metaphor for things that are happening in the
world in which we live in right now, here in
the US.

The controllers have only had 8 hours in between
shifts up until now. Many people need that many
hours to function properly, so the fact that they
need some of those hours to commute and take care
of things doesn't seem to me to be a good thing.

How often do we do with less of something that
should be good for us? How often do we hurt
ourselves in the pursuit of something?

Have the controllers spoken up? I don't know,
but I have to wonder. How often do we speak up
when something is not working? How often are
we at the effect of someone else's decisions
and choices which in turn can affect another's
decisions and choices?

These controllers are sleeping through "important"
moments in their lives and the lives of others.
At a minimum, a nuisance or inconvenience, at
a maximum, it could be catastrophic.

How often do we sleep walk through our own lives,
or sleep through (metaphorically, or otherwise)
the important moments in our lives?

While the issue may very well be an issue of
sleep - or, rather a lack of sleep - if we focus
on it alone there may be other things that run
deeper and are missed. The fact that someone
was watching a movie - someone who had to be
aware of the trouble the others had been in -
someone who knew the rules and broke them -
someone who knew their actions could adversely
affect others - tells me that there is more
going on, and given the way things are going,
we would do ourselves a favor by taking a look
at the bigger picture and asking ourselves
questions instead of focusing on just this one
industry/series of events.

In order to change, we have to first be willing
to look at what is, and we don't all have a
governing body looking over our shoulder calling
attention to perceived problems and difficulties.
It also means that that are likely to be times
that we alone are also responsible for the pickles
we get ourselves into, as there is no one telling
us what to do, or how to do it.

The harder it is to look, the more likely cleaning
up the potential mess afterward is going to be a
lot harder than if you had faced what needed to be
faced in the first place.

It is much better to create dynamics that help
us rather than create a patchwork that appears
to work - but we know it's just a quick fix.
Not many things can be patched over and over
and maintain their strength and integrity. In
addition a fix made with love and forethought
is likely to have a better and longer lasting
impact than one that is just slapped together
and expected to last a lifetime.

Air Controllers aren't the only ones who are
having issues, and the sooner that we in our
own personal lives and in our lives as co-
citizens on this planet are willing to look
at how things are, the sooner we can make
changes and potentially avert disasters in
other words start ACTING and stop REACTING.

The time to take action is before you need to;
you'll have a much better chance of preserving
whatever that thing is that you value than if
you wait. That applies to Liberty and Health
and Relationships and Money, and...