In Australia, its most famous horse race, The Melbourne Cup, has
again been run and won, this time by a horse from Germany named Protectionist.
And this time next year most people will probably have difficulty
remembering its name (unless, of course, they backed it). The race
that's supposed to 'stop a nation' has undergone exponential change
since it was first run in 1861. Back then, Archer earned for his
connections 910 Pounds. In 2014, the prize money was $6.2 million. And
there are many other changes. This year, many international horses
competed, while in 1910 there was only one (Comedy King, it won,
too). The attitudes of most Aussies have changed in relation to this
event and tourism, hospitality, and gambling shops are just some of the
many beneficiaries.
Changes of this kind in, what is, a very
conservative industry, indicates that few can hope to escape this
phenomenon. The toothpaste is out of the tube and there's no way of
getting it back. Or, as Chad & Jeremy sang, 'Yesterday's Gone'. Even
Heraclitus put his spin on the same thing when he said, 'You cannot
step twice in the same river, for other waters are continually flowing
on'.
If you've lived long enough, you're likely to have your
favourite change story or observation. The one thing that most of these
share is that nothing is to be gained by lamenting the past. Change is
pretty straightforward. After all, as Woody Allen said, '90% of success
is showing up'.
It's likely that most of us have our habits, or
our beliefs, or our weight, or fitness level, or whatever, that we'd
like to change. So, we spend time and money seeking to reinvent and
upgrade ourselves and make the sought-for change. We usually fail, or
course. It's tempting to take the easy way out and say, 'This is who I
am. I'm going to live with it.'
Changing can be hard, but not impossible. As Epictetus said, 'It's difficulties that show what men are'. If the racing industry can do it, you can, too.
And
for those gamblers who didn't back the winner of the Cup, take note of
Crevantes' words of wisdom. Melbourne was unheard of when Cervantes said
that, 'Fortune may have yet a better success in reserve for you, and
those who lose today may win tomorrow
