Loving Life, Gaining Satisfaction

"I'm doing what I like to do, not what I have to do."

• Allen L. Smith
  

Loving Life, Gaining Satisfaction

I was in a meeting trying to concentrate on the matters at hand, when one of the men at the table made the comment, "I've retired now three times. I came out of retirement to do this because it's what I want to do; not what I have to do." With that statement, my whole focus shifted.

I was now listening for more wisdom to come out of his mouth. I wasn't disappointed.

"The primary purpose of life is to help mankind." Allen said a few minutes later.

I've spent the better part of two weeks just thinking about what he said and wondering how many of us really understand what he was saying. Do I?

I was sitting at another table with a teen aged boy less than a week later. I was getting to know him. "What is it you'd like to do more than anything else in the world?" I asked.

He was having some trouble and I wanted to know what he really wanted to do with his life. I didn't want to know what he thought I wanted to hear and I didn't want to know if he could recite what his parents wanted him to do with his life.

He didn't have an answer right off. I think he was caught off guard.

"What are you willing to give your life to? I continued.

"I want to help people." He replied.

"Everyone says that." I said. "That's not enough! It's too vague. What I really want to know is what you want so much that you won't let anyone or anything stand in your way as you work to get it."I persisted.

"I always thought I wanted to play in the NBA." He said.

"That's not true! You let yourself get kicked off the school team this year. So, you didn't really want it. You were pretending to want it."

He looked across the table at me with a thoughtful stare. I could see the answer working from deep inside his mind and heart getting ready to crystallize and reveal itself.

"I want to be a doctor!"

There it was. He knew what he wanted all along, but he didn't know what to do to get there. So we spent the next hour or so creating a plan with steps he could take to get there. I watched the excitement build inside of him as his map to become a doctor grew before his eyes. It's a wondrous thing to watch an idea change the world!

As I drove him home I had to ask myself, "Are you doing what you really want to do with your life?" I looked at the young man in the seat across from me and answered with an emphatic, "Yes." Many times we don't get paid money to do what we really want to do. Our pay is something much more valuable than that. It's a deep sense of satisfaction that can't be obtained in any other way.

Moosages

"Moooooo!"

• The Pillsbury Dough Girl
  

Moosages

It's the first snowy morning of the season! It's real cold outside with blowing snow. I know it's time to get up and out of bed, but I'm not really feeling it. I don't want to leave the warm comfort of my bed and I definitely don't want to go outside, so I just pull up the covers and close my eyes to savor the comfort. But, my bliss isn't long lived!

A noise begins to tickle my ears. It's faint at first; but it grows in frequency and volume quickly.

"Moo. Mooo. MOOOOO!"

I know what it is immediately. It's a moosage.

The Pillsbury Dough Girl is telling me that it's time for her breakfast. I roll my eyes contemplating my situation. I never dreamed that I'd be taking orders from a fat cow at this stage of my life! But I've learned a lot from the personal moosages delivered by my cow. Today's moosage is about learning to be selfless.

This is a lesson that isn't a very easy lesson to learn for most of us and my experience is that most people can't learn it without making a strong commitment to a personal principle or to someone else. It's that commitment that makes us see beyond ourselves and expand beyond our present capacity. Such stretching doesn't come all at once, it comes a little at a time. It comes mostly because we have no idea of the growth we're about to bring upon ourselves.

After all, when we make the largest commitments in our lives our vision isn't real clear. We're blinded by the fact that, "it's just such a cute little calf and it's so adorable." We know that it will grow in to a huge, hay gobbling cow, but we just can't see it at the time due to the excitement of the moment.

For example, when I purchased this cow I never took the time to consider the genesis of the traditional cow name, "Old Bossy." Oops, I'm sure I have that wrong, I think it's "Old Bessie." But I'm pretty sure I've heard of another cow named "Bossy the Cow." Oh, never mind, you get the point; that's my cow's nick name now.

I hear her calling. I'm not happy about having to go out into the cold. Still, the moosage is clear: next time you find yourself doing something you don't want to do, but you're doing it because of the commitment you've made or because of your love for the other person, know that you're stretching to become a better person as a result. Then, get a little smile on your face knowing that you've got it better than I do. At least you're not being bossed around by a cow!

Overcoming Obstacles

"There was something in the road."

• Annie Butterfield
  

Overcoming Obstacles

My daughter Annie is in the process of learning to drive and a couple of nights ago, just after she had driven home from the barn where she was riding, she told me that she'd seen a pile of dirt in the road. "It wasn't a large pile and I knew it wouldn't be a problem for me or the car so I just drove right over it." She had done the right thing in not allowing an insignificant obstacle to slow her down and it reminded me of the old saying, "Don't make a mountain out of a mole hill."

Many times, a person without a lot of driving experience will see a small mound of dirt in the road and panic; not knowing what to do. That can cause a whole new chain of events that may prove to be of much greater danger than the one originally faced!

Sometimes, even those of us with a lot of experience find small bumps in the road of life that tend to derail us. I've found this to be true in my work; especially when I'm faced with a task that I don't really want to do or that will take a great deal of time and effort. It's not that I don't know what to do, or that I can't do the work, it's just that my mind begins to grow the task into what appears to be a huge mountain that I can't possibly climb. And, that alone causes a chain of events that can become a much larger problem than the task itself!

I was thinking that if I faced this issue, you may face it at times as well so here are some steps that I've found to be helpful:

First, I try to recognize that I've become trapped in front of a "gopher hill." (I use the term gopher hill because I'm involved in a war with gophers in my yard and they've become the bane of my life!) I also use that term because their mounds are instructive to describe what I think is happening. A gopher mound has a sort of semi circular shape. So, if I was very small and stood in front of it, I could easily believe that I had become encircled without a way to escape. I must recognize that what in my mind appears to be true is simply an illusion.

Second, I've found that my largest hurdle is always just getting started. Once I begin to work on the task, that has been overwhelming me, I find that it isn't nearly as daunting as I had imagined. Since I know this about myself I've posted a sign in my office that says, "It's the job that isn't started that takes the longest to complete."

Finally, once I start I make sure I stay the course and focus on the task to get it knocked out and put it behind me. When I've completed it I allow myself to feel the relief and warm sense of accomplishment. That's also when I remind myself that I'll see many other gopher mounds in my life and that I am skilled at not letting them derail me.

As I keep following these steps I hope to become more and more like Annie. I hope to see a small bump in the road and just drive on past it as if it doesn't exist. And, I hope that what you see in your life will be small bumps as well!

Become Invisible

"I told him it was kind of him to come and he said it isn't kind. It's who I am."

• Jeff Barton
  

Become Invisible

This is a tale of two men. One is the CEO of a major global corporation. One is a company courier who has delivered the newspaper to the CEO for many years. One man travels the world and has shoulders broad enough to carry the weight of heavy responsibility. One man travels the corridors of the corporate headquarters. On the surface their lives have little in common; one is highly visible, larger than life, while the other lives a life of simplicity and virtual invisibility. But, there is more than one kind of invisibility.

The first type of invisibility is the type that would lead individuals to think that they aren't important in the total scheme of things. It leads all of us to question our individual worth at one time or another. It makes us wonder if anyone notices or cares about us. It is a perceived lack of relationship or connection. It is the possible invisibility of the individual.

The second type of is invisibility of separation. It is the invisibility between what a person says they are and the way they act. It is also the lack of barrier between people; the integrity of conviction.

In this tale it would be easy see potential barriers between the two men, to believe in the invisibility of one individual. But, in this case it would be wrong!

The Courier had delivered the newspaper to the CEO for these many years in a quiet and unassuming way and when he reached an age of greater than seventy years he decided to retire. So, the company planned a retirement party for him and invited everyone to come; including the busy CEO. Who, I suspect, most didn't expect to come. But, come he did!

And, when my friend Jeff Barton had the chance to talk with the CEO at the celebration, he said, "It's kind of you to come." To which the CEO replied, "It's not kind, it's who I am!"

So, I wonder who you and I are. Are we the kind of people who live a life of invisibility or are we the kind of people who live a life of invisibility?

Do we think that we don't matter? Do we think that what we say and do doesn't matter? If your answer is yes, then reflect on this tale again and again until you make the determination to be sure that you have this same integrity of conviction; the desire to remove all barriers between you and others as well as between what you say and what you do. When you do, you'll discover your own greatness as well as your ability to make a great difference in the world. So, will you please join me in becoming more invisible today?