Do you have 2 dimes for a nickel?

I was recently thinking about an old Laurel and Hardy bit.  OK, I know there are no new Laurel and Hardy bits and there has not been one in over 60 years since their last movie “Atoll K”.  However, in this one routine, Stanley is looking for some change and turns to Ollie and innocently asks if he has any change.  Ollie happily answers, “yes, how much.” Stanley responds, “Do you have 2 dimes for a nickel?” and of course, Ollie wants to help his friend out and they swap money.  After the exchange is complete, Ollie realizes that he has been taken.  Unfortunately, as vast as the internet has become, I could not find a clip of this routine.  Interestingly enough, Stanley is able to pull similar “gags” throughout their many movies together and Ollie always fall for it.

With the New Year so recently past us, how many of us have committed not to fall into the same traps that we have fallen into the over the past years?  Do we talk about doing different things or are we really going to change?

My first full week into the year and I was going to wake up a little earlier to do some kind of exercising.  I had recently taken a trial yoga course and enjoyed the experience.  From the class I figured that I could stretch in the morning, maybe hold the plank position a little longer each day and work on my core.  First day I jumped out of bed excited about my new change in routine.  By day 2, I was so tired, that I almost overslept.  By the end of the week, my new morning schedule looked the same as my old morning schedule.  What happened?!?  I realized that I had taken on more things during the day which caused me to go to bed later.  I was so excited about what I was able to be a part of, I forgot about the priority that I had set for myself.

So, can we really change?  Truly, only I can change myself.  In a management course I took, they made a point that people only change when confronted with a life altering event.  I am not going to go in search of life altering events – thank you very much…At least I can see where I faltered and can work on it, though I realize that my life in general is not changing, so smaller changes will be hard.  Using my project management background, maybe if I break the change into smaller pieces, the change will be easier.  Maybe I have some underlying fears holding me back that I need to address.  Next week, I am going to Empowered Life 2, a seminar on personal growth that will include a section on facing fears. 

Every year, it feels like I am Oliver Hardy, always falling for the 2 dimes for a nickel shtick.  Hopefully, this is the year I get to turn things around and ask Stanley if he has a nickel for 2 dimes…