Yesterday turned out very different to what I imagined.  It reminds me of a movie I saw decades ago where a guy imagined something and then it showed what really happened.
I had imagined working in the yard early and then going with Merril as she banked and we bought something we are after for the cabin.
It did not take long for plans to be altered.  I was ready to head into the yard and it rained.  Not just light showers that are more an inconvenience rather than a show-stopper, but heavy downpours that I definitely do not like to be in.
So that plan went by the board.  Merril had prepared the banking and we were all set to go out.  We were shutting up the place in preparation when I got a text message to say someone I was meeting the next day was running late.
That made me think there is something going on here.  Turned out he was confused as to what day it was.  He thought it was a day later and was going to be at out meeting point.  I mentioned it to Merril and she graciously suggested I could meet him and she do what we had planned to do together.
That is what happened.  I texted him to say I was two minutes away.  Merril dropped me off and I saw him while she went off and did other stuff.
I really enjoyed our time together.  I have rarely met someone who had more similar interests.  He loves C.S. Lewis and plays music and has written songs to name a few things we had in common.
Merril came back right at the end of our get together.  The banking happened but the shop did not have what we were after for the cabin.  We went home.  I followed my tradition and had a rest after lunch.
After the rest I worked in the yard.  I was only stopped once by a heavy downpour.  Oh and by a spider.  I was sitting on the couch out the back where Merril and I often sit, and a spider emerged near where Merril normally is.  I really did not like the look of him and did not want him emerging while Merril was there and potentially biting her.
So I dealt with him.  I could say he was like two meters wide but I would be lying.  All I will say is he was smaller than that.  I showed Merril the hole into his web.  He had to go.  I found him and delt with him and moved on.  I lived to tell the story.  I’m pretty tough in fights where the opponent is smaller than me.
After that I did some stuff in the yard again.  Progress is not as fast as we imagine but it is happening.  I wanted to trim and clear under a tree we love.  It happened.  More is planned for this morning.  The day looks alright to me.

I am all over the place with a web site I am looking at.  But I must admit the site (helpfulprofessor.com) is one of the clearest on its subject matter I have ever come across.
I have been looking at proactivity.  Proactive is defined as “the ability to do things in advance of an event to ensure you have maximum control.”  At the end of the article he gives the difference between proactivity and initiative. “Initiative means starting something whereas proactivity means planning ahead for something.”
There is an extensive list of examples of proactivity but several stood out to me. 
One was “asking for advice.”  I admit I have never been shy about doing that.  I figure the best way of ensuring I do it right is to know what right is in the first place.  Who better to find out what is required then to ask the one requiring it? To me “asking for feedback” goes hand in hand with that.  I can be happy and have totally missed the brief.  Feedback gives me an idea of where I have hit the mark, and where I can improve so as to hit the mark more often.
Another example was “writing daily to-do lists.”  I do this a lot.  There are several reasons I do it, but I reckon one of the main ones is to control stress.  I find that when I write stuff down, I remember it and it avoids that vague feeling of there being something I should be doing but cannot remember.  I find if I have written it down it will be remembered, and I can avoid thinking about it until it is time for it to be done.  To me so much stress can be avoided through clarity.
Little to me is as debilitating as knowing I have a mass of tasks to be done, but not having planned a time to do them.  Doing a list can seem over the top, but it is a great boon for my mental health, being able to concentrate on one task at a time.
One of the best examples of proactivity I have seen was the guy at 3M that invented the sticky notes.  He showed initiative by inventing it and presenting it to his boss.  His boss did not see the potential and so rejected the idea.  The inventor knew the potential and was proactive by making them and sending off paperwork with these things stuck on them.  Someone high up the chain of command got one and saw the possibilities and now you and I see them all the time.
To me there are many ways to be proactive.  It is the best way to give someone else what they want and where I believe in something, am committed to it, and where I can prove it works, to also get what I am after.

Looking at motivations has led me to all sorts of what I find interesting web sites.  The one I am looking at at the moment is called HelpfulProfessor.com.  It contains pages on things like Examples of Honesty, Examples of Talents, Persistence examples and skill sets for Teachers and many others.
The one that has grabbed my attention at the moment is called “Examples of Integrity.”  I have not in the past thought a lot about what makes up these things, so I have found it really good to see things so clearly put.
A lady at work decades ago said something I have never forgotten.  She said for something to be right for one it has to be right for all.  To me I see on display attributes in leaders that I see as destructive.  Being honest is seen as a part of integrity.   Right now, I see examples of a lack of honesty in leaders and if I apply the ladies test to it the outcome is not good.
I see several leaders displaying a lack of honesty and it produces misery for millions.  If all are dishonest then to me what the world is built on comes crumbling down very fast.
For me the same applies to another listed attribute of integrity and that is “admitting mistakes.”  A lack of willingness to admit I am in the wrong puts the brakes on the potential good that can come out of bad.  To me it perpetuates grief and may protect one for a time but bring suffering to many.
I have said it before that so often someone accuses others of having their own dominant attributes. For example a people may be accused of being self-serving at a cost to others and not caring about anyone but themselves.  My problem with this is, yes the attribute is sure to be a part of another, but it may be 90% of the accusers character and in the other it may be 3%.
I will never set myself up as I am one of the flawed ones.  There is conflict within, so I seek the help of another to make the doing of good a natural thing born of another’s nature.
So while human nature is flawed, to me it is what dominates that determines the type of world I live it.  When good dominates, good prevails.  But when the baser of human nature prevails, evil stalks the land.