My Name Is Jasper

Heaven And Hell

They say that life's a carousel

Spinning fast, you've got to ride it well

The world is full of Kings and Queens

Who blind your eyes then steal your dreams

And they'll tell you black is really white

The moon is just the sun at night

And when you walk in golden halls

You get to keep the gold that falls

Heaven and Hell – Ronnie James Dio (19)

"Wait, so the guy that signs 'Love Is All' (20) was in Black Sabbath?" Julie asks me, looking genuinely surprised. It is funny in a way, one of the biggest feel good songs ever sharing the same singer as a band that defined Heavy Metal music, signing about devils and evil. "Well, Ronnie James Dio sang that song, made by Roger Glover. He was the bass player for Deep Purple until 1973, a year later he made his solo album. Ritchie Blackmore, the famous guitar player from Deep Purple, formed his own band in 1975 in which Dio sang as well: Rainbow. However, Blackmore fired almost everyone who ever played in his band, including Dio in 1979. But then Black Sabbath had just sacked Ozzy – who was a ticking time bomb – so they enlisted Dio. It led to 2 of their best albums (21)  actually, although many people only consider Sabbath with Ozzy to be the real Black Sabbath. Anyway, after conflict in 1982, Dio left Sabbath and formed his own band, simply called Dio" Julie looks at me. "Are you sure this is the most concise answer to my question?" "Well yeah, this is the shortest possible answer that includes all necessary information". Julie smiles at me "Maybe 'yes' was a better answer."

I get very passionate about the music I love...

I talk too much. I love telling stories. At certain times flooding people with details and nuances can be beneficial, but mostly it is not. Get to the point! Something I have to remember. Ask any manager I ever had, they will all say that my number one area for improvement was or is: "Be more concise." Get to the point! I know this. When you ask people to provide feedback, and they tell you what you were expecting, that is good. Knowing your own weaknesses is one of the biggest strengths you can have. Unfortunately, a bigger weakness is not acting on that knowledge. Changing. Improving. It's not easy, remember?

The truth is, everything changes. Everything. You may not like it, and some people or things try to resist change with all their might. They will fail. Every living thing, every situation, every story, the entire universe. It all changes, one way or another. You have to keep learning, exploring, adapting. The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that change, for lack of a better word, is good (22). Everything is on the move, and as Microsoft Executive Dennis Cerasoli once pointed out: "If you are comfortable, you are not moving fast enough." (23)

Dennis said this within an IT business context. I say we can and should extend this idea to our entire lives, our world. Everything changes. And we need to adapt, learn, discover. That does not mean there is no such thing as a comfortable life. It means that our ability to adapt, coming from a hunger for knowledge and a curiosity that makes us learn, will enable us to live more comfortably. Knowing that everything changes, feeling ready for change, or better: being ready for the challenge of change, is a very comfortable feeling. Bring it on! I may not know what is going to change or how it will change, but I look forward finding out. No matter how good or bad your situation is, one thing is sure: it changes.

Change can be scary, especially small things, things you hadn't thought about or didn't see coming. I moved from Belgium to Canada. On my own, only 2 suitcases of clothing to accompany me. That is a big change. Before I left Belgium, I was wondering about a number of big things. "Will I make new friends?" "Will I like my Job?" "Where will I live?" "Is it really going to be that cold?" Friends came naturally, my job was what I made it to be and similar to my job in Belgium, I found a nice apartment within a week and at least the first winter was quite mild. What was really on my mind one of the first times I drove to work? "I hope I don't get in a car accident." I wasn't even thinking about being physically hurt, or hurting someone. No, I realized that if something happened, I had no clue what to do. In Belgium, every car has a so-called collusion form in the glove compartment. Does anyone actually ever store gloves there? And if you are in an accident, both parties fill out the form, you make the little drawing of what happened. Does it surprise anyone I used to add too much detail on that drawing? Adding car windows, grass, people ... You add your insurance contact info, both parties sign and when you get home you mail it. Everybody in Belgium knows that. I arrived at my office, parked the car and checked the glove compartment. No collision form, no gloves either.