John-- How about "Whatever happens is the only thing that did"?
:- Doug. On Mon, 2007-04-23 at 18:22 -0700, John Engle wrote: > Hi fellow listers. > > I know that some have been through this hundreds of times but I'm > wanting to get the most recent reflections on the principle: > > Whatever happens is the only thing that could've. > > My colleagues in Haiti and I continue to have smart people from a > variety of cultures let us know that this principle doesn't sit well > with them. > > It communicates fatalism to some instead of encouraging > responsibility. While i'm totally comfortable with the principle, if > enough people tell me that it communicates something to them that is > different than what i'm trying to communicate, there's a problem. > > For me, what's worse is that often times people remember it as: "What > happens is that which is supposed to happen" or "There's a reason for > everything that happens." This can have us sounding like Christian > fundamentalist. > > We've been experimenting in Haitian Creole and in English with this: > > What Happens is what happens - learn and move forward. > > Here's an example of a text that would explain this principle: > > This principle helps us to not lament over should’ves, to not wallow > in regrets. We’re all responsible for how we use our time and space > together during this meeting. Let’s assume that responsibility and be > prepared to accept what happens and to continually strive to learn and > to keep moving forward. > > i covet your thoughts. > > John > > > > > www.johnengle.net Open space facilitation > www.circlesofchange.com Participatory learning and leadership > www.harvesttime.cc Harvesting for justice that all may have enough > > telephone Haiti: 509-461-3067 > > email: j...@johnengle.net > telephone: 202-236-6532 > fax: 202-449-8343 > > John Engle > P.O. Box 337 > Hershey, PA 17033 * * > ========================================================== > osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To > subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of > osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: > http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about > OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: > http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist * * ========================================================== osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of osl...@listserv.boisestate.edu: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist