Next Practices

Every now and then I hear someone resign themselves to the perceived reality of a situation by saying with a bit of a sigh, “It is what it is.”  When I hear that (imagining the voice of Winnie the Pooh’s Eeyore character), it is usually offered as a concluding statement that indicates there is no hope for changing the situation.  The implication is that we just need to accept it and move on.  Others present in the room when such a pronouncement is made typically nod in agreement and the conversation ends because, after all, “It is what it is.”

Or is it?

While I don’t claim that we will always be successful changing the circumstances about which we tend to say “It is what it is,” I want to encourage you to not automatically accept the statement as the final word.

What if it doesn’t have to be the way that it is?  What if all that is needed is for one or more determined, hard-working people to put in the effort to transform the situation into something entirely different?  What if it can be changed, but nobody has invested the time, energy and resources to make it happen?

I may be OK (reluctantly) with accepting a situation as “the way it is” if I know I have first done everything in my power to try to change it, but I really shouldn’t accept unwanted situations until I have exerted every bit of effort I can muster to make a positive impact.  As the graphic above suggests, there is always the possibility of making a difference in our future reality.

Don’t resign yourself to unfortunate circumstances under the false assumption that “It is what it is.”  Work hard (and pray) to change what is into what it can become.