Flirting with Disaster

"If the system works, but it could work better, it is as good as broken."

As someone who has lived paycheck to paycheck the axiom "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" was something I lived by day by day.  The car shakes but is still drivable, the computer only crashes once every couple weeks, yeah the door squeaks but still opens, seemingly little things in our daily lives prophecying of impending doom.  We often pay little to no attention, often too late when disaster does strike do we realize we had warnings all along.  An example in my family was a car accident. My wife was driving to work in a car I knew I needed to do some work on.  It still functioned though, and I simply had not slotted out the time to perform the task. Behold, a phone call at 8 am awakened me from my neglect. The tire, hub, and brake assembly had fallen off as she was making a turn (I'm grateful it didn't happen at freeway speeds).  A simple error could have been disastrous.
Likewise, in life, we are surrounded by situations and circumstances which are calm on the surface, but a raging torrent is underneath threatening to wash it all away. Orrin Woodward, former Systems Engineer and current Leader/Entrepreneur, often refers to what is called PDCA: Plan, Do, Check, Adjust.  As an engineer he would take a component, tear it down all the way, analyze the pieces, and then build it better. 
It is in this spirit we should strive to live our lives. The idea of not fixing something which is unbroken is simply another way of choosing to live in mediocrity.  We cannot exist in status quo, the law of entropy ensures this. We must be striving for betterment,  or we will be consumed by decay. Our blessing is in the knowledge that we can control which direction we are going. What daily activities are you doing? Do they act to improve you or allow you to vegitate? Every decision made will take us either closer to or further from our goals and dreams.
Sometimes we are in a position where the realization comes that things could be better, improvement and growth is achievable. It is in moments like that the song by Meatloaf speaks volumes: "if it ain't broke, break it!" There will always be difficulty and pain when ties to old ways are severed. Often it seems as though we are losing a part of our self in the process. Eric "E.T." Thomas says we must be willing to sacrifice what we are for what we will become. There is so much that can be achieved if we will simply go after what pulls our heart. Be fearless on the edge. It is when we jump that we discover the wings we had all along. 

Be the Warrior Poet: be diplomatic when you can, fight when you must.