Begin the begin

So today I was driving to work, and there was a five-car pile-up around every corner and curve, so it took a while.

You live in the city long enough, and you learn that you can either have a conniption whenever there is a wreck, or you can just drink your coffee and play your CDs and wait patiently. Having a cow about it doesn't speed anything up.

I got out a CD from a leadership class my employer was kind enough to send me to last year. I love it. Each of us had to name a song that said something about either personality, profession or outlook. This was the first one on the disc, from a colleague in Tennessee.

REM's "Begin the Begin." That one stands out because our instructions were, since we were meeting in Nashville, to pick a country song. This was a handicap for folks who don't like country.

It reminded me today that we begin again every morning. We're never stuck in the middle, mired in a rut. We begin all the time. So let's begin the begin today. And tomorrow.

P.S. Here's my song from Gannett's Leadership 5.0 class. Mary Chapin Carpenter's "Tender When I Want To Be." "I have a heart that's proud, you bet. I have a mind that won't forget. And I have arms that are strong yet tender when they want to be. You can be the will that finds the way. You can be the one who saves the day. But show me tender when it's time to say exactly how it ought to be." Pretty good advice, and you can dance to it.