An angry man

I was once an angry man.  Well, I’m still kind of angry I guess, but it is more of a dull ache than a throbbing, burning desire to destroy.  So what caused the difference?

Many different things including eating properly, exercising properly, getting enough sleep and realizing that sometimes people just don’t know any better.  That last point, that people just don’t know any better, was emphasized recently due to some events that occurred in my wife’s family.  I realized that sometimes, for reasons totally beyond the control of the person, certain “value systems” were never introduced or emphasized.

When I grew up (here I go remembering the past again) my parents always quizzed me about my report card and why I get certain grades.  They wanted to make sure that I was working hard at trying to improve.  They wanted me to know that my marks, while important, were secondary to my efforts to making my marks better.  If I wasn’t making the effort how could I improve? 

We live in a world that is constantly changing.  What was once a good profession may, with the introduction of technology, become a dead end street with no light at the end of the tunnel.  What may have been a good career choice out of high school may not even exist any more.  When was the last time you saw a telephone booth on the corner of a street?

Improving, making the effort, these are important in life, particularly in the career path you choose.  You should be anxious to learn new things.  There should be a desire to become better, a desire to improve, a desire to strive for excellence.  I can tell you about the Microsoft Virtual Academy, I can tell you about Channel 9, I can point you in the direction of instruction manuals and tips and tricks, but I can’t make you want to learn.  I can’t make you want to improve.  You have to do that yourself.  You have to have the desire to get better, the desire to improve, the desire to learn.

The IT industry changes quite frequently, sometimes in advance of society and sometimes as a reaction to society, but the ebb and flow of change is fundamental to the core of what IT does.  If you don’t change just remember that corner telephone booths didn’t last forever.