these are great! thanks for your affirmations, lisa, and for your reflections alan and doug.
no one will ever be able to argue or dispute, "whatever happens is the only thing that did" i can't even say it without a grin and chuckle. that's a good sign. i look forward to learning what others think. thanks again! john douglas germann <76066....@compuserve.com> wrote: 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 shouldâves, to not wallow > in regrets. Weâre all responsible for how we use our time and space > together during this meeting. Letâs 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 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
