Shifting Paradigms


I have been wondering what I should write on this month. I also have been busy in my shop as I am starting to see spring is coming slowly. Working around the self-employment  theme my wife and I have been working on the craft projects which works with my woodworking skills.  Now mainly because of my age / job market I have started down the path of heading back to school to do Small Engine Repair Course.

So Susie ( my wife ) has been sorting stuff and she came across this paper:

 We both have used the “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”.  One of the topics in that book talks about Paradigms & Principles.


“ We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then is not an act, but a habit” – Aristotle 

 Our character, basically, is a composite of our habits. “Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character, sow a character , reap a destiny.” the maxim goes. Habits are powerful factors in our lives. Because they are consistent, often unconscious patterns, they constantly, daily, express our character and produce our effectiveness … or ineffectiveness.

I wrote this a while back but as I read it again it just makes sense, at least to me.  I have found again people are talking about / around Mental Health and  Mental Illness. It is not easy to define, however, it is important that you guard against both under - and over - diagnosis in thinking about where you start. The biggest problem is underdiagnoses.  It is a startling fact that so many with a psychiatric disorder never get the help they need.

I read “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”  then read the topic  Paradigms & Principles.  My hope is others will read this book and realize that there is a shift in thinking or the way to look at Mental Health and  Mental Illness.  Not every imperfection in life is a psychotic disorder nor is every symptom or quirk amble to psychiatric treatment.

I have always believed that having a good outlook in life helps to lead to a better Mental health thus this is the “Paradigm” shift.  Knowing that right now you may be in a “dark place” or someone has put you there. By seeing that you are stronger then that provides you with the knowledge to get out of that place.

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