Red Shoe Scrolls

Link: http://randymorgan.com/Leadership%20for%20Sustainable%20Tourism.html

I just finished preparing handouts of the Montana Governor's Conference on Tourism & Recreation and thought how I screwed up the title might keep you from making the same mistake.

This title sounded so good several months ago when I first wrote it, but now in retrospect I think setting our goals for "Sustainable Tourism" may be part of the problem. It is not that we shouldn't be considerate of our natural resources; in fact I think setting our sights on sustainability falls short of truly appreciating the resources we have. The Wikipedia definition of sustainability is "the capacity to endure". I doubt that any of us would have responded to any job posting for which enduring: "putting up with something or somebody unpleasant" was a requirement of the job. But if this is not what we set out for, why is it more than 54% of people find themselves dissatisfied with their jobs?

There are of course a litany of easy answers ranging from overbearing bosses and incompetent coworkers to the economy, personal pay, and of course "This administration". But what if the problem is none of these things or any of the hundred other irritating issues that pollute our minds with little more than our imaginations. What if the only real cause of our discontent is not what comes at us, but what comes from us?

This is the key not only to a thriving tourism economy, but to our families, communities, state, country and world as a whole. Imagine if you lived in a place, worked in an organization, or were part of a team where every member knew for a fact that all of their discontent, anger, unhappiness, blame.....was self generated. How unstoppable would you be if you "remembered" the only thing that disturbs you is you? This is the greatest most liberating lesson you can teach. Stress, aggravation and worry are not the inevitable result of our experiences. They are the manifestations of our stories.

I can hear you saying "wait just a darn minute, don't you realize spending is down, stays are shorter, planning totally unpredictable, and the only good news comes from parks like we are standing in right now". All those things are absolutely true, but the one thing you may have forgotten to consider is that all the "problems" outside of you are "tiny matters" compared to the resources inside of you.