It's been awhile. Too long. Too many thoughts wanting out. Too many assumed reason to keep them in. Feeling too mentally and physically down. The redeeming thing now is that I can assume no one reads these anymore, so the environment has changed. Who knows? I don't.
Anyway, let's phase in slowly. Way too dependent on technology. That's a given. Went to dinner last night at a new place. Beautiful setting, outdoor table. Good service, good drink, good food.
Midway through the meal a friend and group take up the table next to us. Greetings exchanged and good tidings expressed.
Meal finished, time to head home. Collect the doggy bags and off we go. 20 miles later pull into the garage and realize that my phone was left on the table.
The near panic of realization that everything -- too much of things --- is on that phone. Phone numbers, addresses, photos, calendars. A call to the restaurant produces the "no one's turned one in", and is responded with details about where we were sitting, the waitress description, etc.
Halfway through the call, a voice comes on the line, "this is Mark, I got your phone. I'll bring it for you tomorrow."
Yes I do. Synchronicity. Shit happens for a reason often indeterminate.
After that the evening was peaceful and uninterrupted.
Hmmm.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Ode to Capitalist Dogs
Mergers, acquisitions,
Affiliations, integrations,
Assimilations, and a whole lot of
flatulation.
All done under the banner of
improving efficiencies,
outputs, outcomes, and whatever guise fits
the situation.
Some might be true.
Some surely are not.
Alas, we are Capitalists,
trained in the inherent spirit
of expansion, growth, and
Econ. 101 telling us that status quo is
actually regression.
Naive to believe
otherwise.
Naive to believe
that the view is the same
from wherever your seat is
on the company bus.
Best exemplified in this piece, modified from
an ode on page 187 of Seeing
Systems by Barry Oshry.
======================
From
the outside,
Integration
is beautiful
From
the inside,
it
is warfare.
From
the outside,
it
is open-ended inquiry.
From
the inside,
it
is fixed and final truths.
From
the outside
it
is "Let us explore all of the possibilities for this system."
From
the inside,
it
is "Let us pursue my way, the right way, the only True Way.
From
the outside,
all
possibilities seem worth exploring.
From
the inside,
your
possibility threatens the validity of my possibility.
From
the outside,
there
is an inevitability and beauty in our integrations.
From
the inside,
there
is pain and loss ---
separation
and alienation,
the
dissolution of partnerships,
costly
reorganizations,
abuse
and oppression,
cultural
conflicts.
Are
you telling me that the Truth is
one
way
or
the other?
Expand
or stand pat?
Black
or white?
Fast
or slow?
Your
terrain or mine?
Now
or later?
Hit
'em hard or be reasonable?
Your
type or mine?
Such
Truth exists on the inside.
From
the outside
it's
all inquiry.
======================
Sadly funny to think of the number of "insiders" who think like "outsiders".
Piece
of dogly advice for the brilliant minds pulling together these
business relationships:
Put
down the financial statements and peruse Oshry’s book.
If you think it’s BS, you’re a good capitalist whose expansion/exploitation will fare well for your pockets and either dis-integrate in the short-term or find a place on the re-sale market.
If you believe at least some of it, and you practice some
of it, there’s hope for your relationship to achieve long-term success.
One way or the other, you'll probably do okay, but can you say the same for
that hourly worker who trusts you to lead their livelihood?
Not guilt... truth.
Not guilt... truth.
Friday, April 11, 2014
Dog's Delivering Papers
Another day, another trip down the lane of memory.
Hanging at a local water hole last week, enjoying a happier hour and somehow the topic of newspaper delivery arose. The local newspaper delivery person seemed to have a holy muffler lately and was waking everyone up at 5 am when she drives around to toss the papers somewhere in the yard.
When the Dog mentioned that he had a paper route when he was a pup (age 12-16), the proverbial hush fell over the pack.
Q: How many papers did you deliver?
A: My route was always around 106.
Now the marvel there might be that the Dog remembered that number almost 50 years after-the-last-delivery, but stay tuned.
Q: How did you deliver them? On your bike?
A: Walked. We all walked the routes in those days. We were "required" to deliver the papers on the customers front porches, not just toss them in the yard. Some of us were pretty good at tossing them on the porch from the sidewalks, but every now and then we'd have to go dig them out of a bush and put it on the porch.
Stunned amazement.
Q: How did you carry 106 papers?
A: A thing we called a bag. It had big pouches in the front and the back; with a hole for your head in the middle. 50 papers in the front, 50 papers in the back, most of the time. Deliver the front 50 and swing the bag around for the next 50. If the papers were really heavy, we'd delivery 25, then swing it, 25 more, and repeat the process. .
By now the Dog is feeling like he was born a year before Neanderthal got published.
Q: How about when the papers were big, like Sundays, you couldn't fit them all in that bag, much less lift it.
A: On those days, carriers would take the bundles of papers from where they were dropped off, and distribute them around the routes to be picked up along the way. Sometimes, I do remember having to load the bag and then sort of get on the ground and get my head through the hole and lift it up. (Who in the h--- can remember this stuff??). It was great for the upper body and leg strength, but not much for any sort of posture.
Q: How did you get paid?
A: The paperboys (yes, they were all boys back then...) were charged for all the papers they received, and then we had to go around door-to-door every month and collect from our customers.
Some paid regularly, and some you had to basically stalk to catch them at home. Some even tipped pretty good ($3 Christmas tips were big time...). And, on my 16th birthday, right after I got my driver's license, I went to Grassi Motors in South Tacoma with my Dad and bought my first car. 1958 Ford hardtop, with a 352 Interceptor engine in it. $450 in cash.
Q: You did this for 4 years??
A: Yup, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. And I was a "sub" for another guy (Bruce Dodge -- seriously... who remembers this much detail???) before before getting my own route. Every carrier had to have his own "sub", or there was no days off. I had Larry Thompson; and paid him $2 to do my route for me when I couldn't. If he missed someone and I got called on it, I deducted a dime for each miss from the pay.
Upon reflection, the Dog would suggest that he learned a lot of life's lessons from that experience. On that evening he got a free refill on his water dish, and felt bad for all the kids today who don't have the same experiences because paper delivery has moved to adults who are doing it to make a living.
Tip your delivery person more.
Hanging at a local water hole last week, enjoying a happier hour and somehow the topic of newspaper delivery arose. The local newspaper delivery person seemed to have a holy muffler lately and was waking everyone up at 5 am when she drives around to toss the papers somewhere in the yard.
When the Dog mentioned that he had a paper route when he was a pup (age 12-16), the proverbial hush fell over the pack.
Q: How many papers did you deliver?
A: My route was always around 106.
Now the marvel there might be that the Dog remembered that number almost 50 years after-the-last-delivery, but stay tuned.
Q: How did you deliver them? On your bike?
A: Walked. We all walked the routes in those days. We were "required" to deliver the papers on the customers front porches, not just toss them in the yard. Some of us were pretty good at tossing them on the porch from the sidewalks, but every now and then we'd have to go dig them out of a bush and put it on the porch.
Stunned amazement.
Q: How did you carry 106 papers?
A: A thing we called a bag. It had big pouches in the front and the back; with a hole for your head in the middle. 50 papers in the front, 50 papers in the back, most of the time. Deliver the front 50 and swing the bag around for the next 50. If the papers were really heavy, we'd delivery 25, then swing it, 25 more, and repeat the process. .
By now the Dog is feeling like he was born a year before Neanderthal got published.
Q: How about when the papers were big, like Sundays, you couldn't fit them all in that bag, much less lift it.
A: On those days, carriers would take the bundles of papers from where they were dropped off, and distribute them around the routes to be picked up along the way. Sometimes, I do remember having to load the bag and then sort of get on the ground and get my head through the hole and lift it up. (Who in the h--- can remember this stuff??). It was great for the upper body and leg strength, but not much for any sort of posture.
Q: How did you get paid?
A: The paperboys (yes, they were all boys back then...) were charged for all the papers they received, and then we had to go around door-to-door every month and collect from our customers.
Some paid regularly, and some you had to basically stalk to catch them at home. Some even tipped pretty good ($3 Christmas tips were big time...). And, on my 16th birthday, right after I got my driver's license, I went to Grassi Motors in South Tacoma with my Dad and bought my first car. 1958 Ford hardtop, with a 352 Interceptor engine in it. $450 in cash.
Q: You did this for 4 years??
A: Yup, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. And I was a "sub" for another guy (Bruce Dodge -- seriously... who remembers this much detail???) before before getting my own route. Every carrier had to have his own "sub", or there was no days off. I had Larry Thompson; and paid him $2 to do my route for me when I couldn't. If he missed someone and I got called on it, I deducted a dime for each miss from the pay.
Upon reflection, the Dog would suggest that he learned a lot of life's lessons from that experience. On that evening he got a free refill on his water dish, and felt bad for all the kids today who don't have the same experiences because paper delivery has moved to adults who are doing it to make a living.
Tip your delivery person more.
Friday, March 21, 2014
Dog-preneurism
The Dog has the honor of sitting on an advisory board of one of the local Universities; and with that comes the opportunity to participate in various faculty presentations about learning adventures. The most recent session asked us for input on the idea of undergraduate students determining ideas and strategies for new business development and expansion of existing small business. It was filled lots of suggestions about legalities, and accounting needs, and marketing plans, and such business things.
It also gave me a moment to reminisce
about my own youthful inexperience in starting a business; and why I continue
to worry that if we overload students with nothing but legal requirements and
accounting rules, we will deter a lot of them from trying to do something.
Too often I see the entrepreneurial spirit shot down by the numerous
challenges that come with any new venture.
Sometimes, I must say
that ignorance is a blissful place to start learning, and (as I think most
successful business leaders would agree) failure is the greatest
teacher.
I was 23 and looking for a journalism job in
Denver. This was before even considering college. The Dog became very frustrated and finally ran an
ad in the Colorado Press Association newsletter that said, “with 15 minutes
training I can do anything in journalism”.
About 2 weeks
later the phone rang with a couple of publishers asking me if I would be interested in
starting a weekly newspaper in Lafayette, Colorado. I won’t bore you with the details, but
I said yes. The deal was that they put up the money and I put up the
work.
I started by going up to Lafayette (9 miles east of
Boulder), and visiting the local grocery, the local banks, the local bars, the
local everything, and asking them about the previous local paper that went out
of business. I asked them what value they thought a local paper
gave Lafayette, and a lot of other questions, mainly just starting to get a
feel for the town. The weekly paper could only survive if their
advertising paid for it, and I was pretty up front with them on that. These days that exercise would be called doing a "market assessment". Back then it was just curiosity and common sense.
We rented a building, we found some old desks &
typewriters, we got a typesetter, we arranged for printing; and away we
went. I didn't have a lawyer or an accountant, and it was really learning as I went.
At the end of the first year, when I finally
did get an accountant to do the taxes, I still remember him asking, “WHAT DO
YOU MEAN YOU NEVER ACCRUED FOR TAXES?”
Needless to say, the cash
on hand took a big hit, and a payment plan was struck with the IRS.
But, this Dog learned a lot more by screwing that up, and we moved on quickly. We went on to increase circulation and
advertising sales & revenue. I also hired an associate to help
me.
The Lafayette Times was the only weekly newspaper in state history (at that
time) that made a profit at the end of the first year.
At the end of the
second year, I had paid back the other partners initial investment and we had
no debt.
At that point, the other partners wanted to pull more money out
and I wanted to put more in and continue to build it. The
partnership dissolved, and another life learning was waiting for me. What do you do when your 25 and you have achieved your life's goal for what you want to do?
I learned a whole lot of business acumen, and I learned integrity and commitment to a cause.
The value of learning forever instilled in my
DNA, and the search for what I want to do continues.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Dog Thoughts on Living, Learning, Leading and Linking...
The Dog was recently asked to "speak" to a group of young professionals, whose group's Mission Statement includes the words Live, Learn, Lead, Link. Obviously with words like that to draw on, the talk wrote itself. So, in true ego-blogging fashion, here's the drift.
Live. We should encourage that. One of the requirements to work with us is to live. Seriously, work-life-family balance is just so much psychobabbly buzzword rhetoric unless we actually practice what we preach. Do you think it's good for your career advancement or an example of how hard you work if you send e-mails before 6 a.m. or after 6 p.m. and on weekends? I don't.
If you think your value is measured by the number of hours you put in, I'm sorry for you. You're in the wrong place or working with the wrong "boss". Your value is in what you do, how you relate to your work, your colleagues, and your environment. The difference you make is your value.
If you are in a place where you're measured by the number of hours you put in, ask yourself if you REALLY WANT to come to work everyday. Be honest.
At this point, the Dog also suggested that if you're having a meal, or socializing, or visiting, or in a meeting, put down your damned iPhone, iPad, Android, or whatever and pay attention. Don't be rude and don't think it's funny. Unless you're a physician on-call, you're not that important. But, of course, I'd never say that publicly.
Lead. Leading in any business, ladies and gentlemen, is not about giving speeches, or telling people what to do, or sending e-mails or directives, or writing mission statements or 99% of the trendy things you read about in whatever management journal you read. I've been reading those journals for a long time. If you ask me what is the one message I get out of them every month, I would say all the clever thoughts have been thought before, what matters now is to think them anew.
The ability to lead comes through an understanding of where both you and your organization have come from. You need to know that, and appreciate it, in order to know where you want to go, and how you want to get there. Tradition became tradition for a reason, and if you ignore it, or denigrate it, you will fail.
Leadership is knowing yourself and your organization personally. We call that Personal Mastery. (Google it.) Leading is not talking one way in front of a group and another way when you're off the stage. There is no "off stage" in leadership. Leading is living your life with a vision in your mind of what you want to create, and having the courage in yourself, your convictions, your competencies and your capabilities to ask people to follow you... and to help you along the road.
Leadership is very often taking people where they don't want to go, because in your heart, you know it's the right way to go.
Not everyone can do that. It makes leaders...and it breaks leaders.
Lead with integrity above all else. Authentic transformation of energy comes from integrity. Integrity means that you come from a place of inner truth to relate to a similar place in other people. The end never justifies the means if the means are not infused with integrity. How you create the future is just as important as its creation.
Learn. We encourage that too. Where I work we try very hard to be a learning organization, and we know that there is no end point in that quest. By its very nature learning never stops and there is no end. One of my favorite descriptions of this phenomenon comes in the words: "in a time of drastic change, it is the learners who will inherit the future. The learned find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists." Eric Hoffer said that. He was a longshoreman. (Google him.)
All the degrees in the world won't make you smart. Learning is not just taking in information. Learning is not reading a book and then reporting on it. Learning is not performing for approval or getting a good grade or a good performance review. Real learning gets to the heart of what it means to be human. Through learning we re-create ourselves. We learn to do things we were never able to do. We re-perceive the world around us. We learn to understand the pre-conceived ideas that all of us have, which affect what we hear. (Google Mental Models.)
If you are looking at a leadership development program, ask the person in charge of it about why it was created. Ask about its purpose. If the answer is, "to develop good managers/leaders" or some such rhetoric. Look deeper into what it's all about. Look for the difference between a program that is built on "teaching" and one that is built on "learning'. The best programs are rooted in developing people, not employees.
1
Link. The thing that pulls it all together. (Google Systems Thinking.) A necessity for any success is knowing and understanding how your actions affect others. Find a book by Meg Wheatley called "Leadership and the New Science". It was written in 1992, but more than still relevant. You'll like it. You'll remember it. AND, you'll be able to use the word "fractal" in an understandable sentence.
Two final thoughts, because the Dog's out of coffee.
First, the key to success in business, and in your life, is in your relationships. That's not just playing golf or having happy hours (although those aren't bad facilitators...). Relationships are built the same whether they're business or personal. Trust. Honesty. Communication. All of those soft and fluffy things that were formerly shunned in the world. We finally realized that those aren't the soft things, those are the hard things... and not everyone can do those either.
Last thought to take with you.
Live your life like you're writing a story for the next generation.
Don't be afraid to share your life's learnings with others. Through that linkage of the past, the present, and the future, you really can make the world a better place.
Live. We should encourage that. One of the requirements to work with us is to live. Seriously, work-life-family balance is just so much psychobabbly buzzword rhetoric unless we actually practice what we preach. Do you think it's good for your career advancement or an example of how hard you work if you send e-mails before 6 a.m. or after 6 p.m. and on weekends? I don't.
If you think your value is measured by the number of hours you put in, I'm sorry for you. You're in the wrong place or working with the wrong "boss". Your value is in what you do, how you relate to your work, your colleagues, and your environment. The difference you make is your value.
If you are in a place where you're measured by the number of hours you put in, ask yourself if you REALLY WANT to come to work everyday. Be honest.
At this point, the Dog also suggested that if you're having a meal, or socializing, or visiting, or in a meeting, put down your damned iPhone, iPad, Android, or whatever and pay attention. Don't be rude and don't think it's funny. Unless you're a physician on-call, you're not that important. But, of course, I'd never say that publicly.
Lead. Leading in any business, ladies and gentlemen, is not about giving speeches, or telling people what to do, or sending e-mails or directives, or writing mission statements or 99% of the trendy things you read about in whatever management journal you read. I've been reading those journals for a long time. If you ask me what is the one message I get out of them every month, I would say all the clever thoughts have been thought before, what matters now is to think them anew.
The ability to lead comes through an understanding of where both you and your organization have come from. You need to know that, and appreciate it, in order to know where you want to go, and how you want to get there. Tradition became tradition for a reason, and if you ignore it, or denigrate it, you will fail.
Leadership is knowing yourself and your organization personally. We call that Personal Mastery. (Google it.) Leading is not talking one way in front of a group and another way when you're off the stage. There is no "off stage" in leadership. Leading is living your life with a vision in your mind of what you want to create, and having the courage in yourself, your convictions, your competencies and your capabilities to ask people to follow you... and to help you along the road.
Leadership is very often taking people where they don't want to go, because in your heart, you know it's the right way to go.
Not everyone can do that. It makes leaders...and it breaks leaders.
Lead with integrity above all else. Authentic transformation of energy comes from integrity. Integrity means that you come from a place of inner truth to relate to a similar place in other people. The end never justifies the means if the means are not infused with integrity. How you create the future is just as important as its creation.
Learn. We encourage that too. Where I work we try very hard to be a learning organization, and we know that there is no end point in that quest. By its very nature learning never stops and there is no end. One of my favorite descriptions of this phenomenon comes in the words: "in a time of drastic change, it is the learners who will inherit the future. The learned find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists." Eric Hoffer said that. He was a longshoreman. (Google him.)
All the degrees in the world won't make you smart. Learning is not just taking in information. Learning is not reading a book and then reporting on it. Learning is not performing for approval or getting a good grade or a good performance review. Real learning gets to the heart of what it means to be human. Through learning we re-create ourselves. We learn to do things we were never able to do. We re-perceive the world around us. We learn to understand the pre-conceived ideas that all of us have, which affect what we hear. (Google Mental Models.)
If you are looking at a leadership development program, ask the person in charge of it about why it was created. Ask about its purpose. If the answer is, "to develop good managers/leaders" or some such rhetoric. Look deeper into what it's all about. Look for the difference between a program that is built on "teaching" and one that is built on "learning'. The best programs are rooted in developing people, not employees.
1
Link. The thing that pulls it all together. (Google Systems Thinking.) A necessity for any success is knowing and understanding how your actions affect others. Find a book by Meg Wheatley called "Leadership and the New Science". It was written in 1992, but more than still relevant. You'll like it. You'll remember it. AND, you'll be able to use the word "fractal" in an understandable sentence.
Two final thoughts, because the Dog's out of coffee.
First, the key to success in business, and in your life, is in your relationships. That's not just playing golf or having happy hours (although those aren't bad facilitators...). Relationships are built the same whether they're business or personal. Trust. Honesty. Communication. All of those soft and fluffy things that were formerly shunned in the world. We finally realized that those aren't the soft things, those are the hard things... and not everyone can do those either.
Last thought to take with you.
Live your life like you're writing a story for the next generation.
Don't be afraid to share your life's learnings with others. Through that linkage of the past, the present, and the future, you really can make the world a better place.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Ambushed Again -- The Struggle To Let Go
The Dog and a buddy went to the local university to see a public lecture on Music and the Vietnam War. The evening was a regular trip down memory lane in many ways as Mr. Doug Bradley, (a Vietnam Vet himself and self-described "REMF" (look it up)), took a SRO group through his top 10 tunes of the jungles, rivers, paddies, and villes, of the great state of confusion called Vee-ett-namb; accompanied by his annotated comments on each song, and some pretty memory invoking video clips. Mr.Bradley and another gentleman are putting together a book on the topic titled, "We Gotta Get Out of This Place"; and the Dog is looking forward to pawing through it.
Anyway, our trip to class was more than we anticipated, as was Vietnam.
Our evening began with Mr. Bradley asking all of the Vietnam Vets in the audience to rise and be acknowledged for their service. A spattering of about 5-8 people rose up and rec'd. applause and a "Welcome Home" from the speaker. Nice touch.
The event was progressing like most classes would, with a smattering of comments and off-the-wall questions by well meaning students, until a man in the back raised his hand. His appearance was best described as an aged radical, with shoulder length frizzy gray hair set on a balding pate, accented with a sort of beard, and the requisite slept in clothes of a child of those years long ago. His comments began with a "thanks" for the nostalgia, and then he brought the room to attention when he asserted that "Vietnam Veterans should not be called heroes or thanked for anything. In fact, some of them should be tried as war criminals."
He then went on to give the group a rendition of the "war here in Madison", the bombing of Sterling Hall, and how happy he was that Leo Burt (one of the bombers) had escaped and never caught.
In a perverse sort of way, it was a good addition to the class for those youngsters who didn't live it all before. Mr. Bradley handled the situation remarkably well, cutting the man off and asking him to sit down. Everyone could also see that Mr. Bradley's thoughts were not the words coming out of his mouth.
The Vietnam Vets in the room did not over react to this sad old man, which was a great compliment to all of them. They showed a lot of dignity, and they should all be proud.
The Dog couldn't help but feel that many of them felt ambushed once again; and that the cycle of the Vietnam experience went full cycle in one evening. From the memories and music, to the homecoming welcome that too many of them received when they came back.
The Dog knows that more than one of them probably didn't sleep well last night as the memories and demons came for yet another visit.
To close this piece, I want to share a journal entry, written by one of them many years ago. This vet was wounded in combat, spent some time in various hospitals along the way back, and then was deposited at the San Francisco airport, alone, to catch a plane home.
His journal:
Hit Man
Anyway, our trip to class was more than we anticipated, as was Vietnam.
Our evening began with Mr. Bradley asking all of the Vietnam Vets in the audience to rise and be acknowledged for their service. A spattering of about 5-8 people rose up and rec'd. applause and a "Welcome Home" from the speaker. Nice touch.
The event was progressing like most classes would, with a smattering of comments and off-the-wall questions by well meaning students, until a man in the back raised his hand. His appearance was best described as an aged radical, with shoulder length frizzy gray hair set on a balding pate, accented with a sort of beard, and the requisite slept in clothes of a child of those years long ago. His comments began with a "thanks" for the nostalgia, and then he brought the room to attention when he asserted that "Vietnam Veterans should not be called heroes or thanked for anything. In fact, some of them should be tried as war criminals."
He then went on to give the group a rendition of the "war here in Madison", the bombing of Sterling Hall, and how happy he was that Leo Burt (one of the bombers) had escaped and never caught.
In a perverse sort of way, it was a good addition to the class for those youngsters who didn't live it all before. Mr. Bradley handled the situation remarkably well, cutting the man off and asking him to sit down. Everyone could also see that Mr. Bradley's thoughts were not the words coming out of his mouth.
The Vietnam Vets in the room did not over react to this sad old man, which was a great compliment to all of them. They showed a lot of dignity, and they should all be proud.
The Dog couldn't help but feel that many of them felt ambushed once again; and that the cycle of the Vietnam experience went full cycle in one evening. From the memories and music, to the homecoming welcome that too many of them received when they came back.
The Dog knows that more than one of them probably didn't sleep well last night as the memories and demons came for yet another visit.
To close this piece, I want to share a journal entry, written by one of them many years ago. This vet was wounded in combat, spent some time in various hospitals along the way back, and then was deposited at the San Francisco airport, alone, to catch a plane home.
His journal:
Hit Man
When I came home from Vietnam an event occurred which affects me to this day. As I was walking through the San Francisco airport, the resplendent disabled veteran, in my Marine Corps uniform, medals worn proudly, a woman approached me.
I saw her coming well in advance. Call it jungle awareness, call it noticing the obvious, the point is that I knew she was directed at me and was on a mission.
She was in her late 20's, shoulder length dark hair and large brown eyes which showed the passion and fire of someone who was following her heart. She was carrying a brown leather shoulder bag and wearing a long navy blue wool coat. She moved toward me with the grace of the cat.
When she was within fifteen feet of me, I stopped. My instinct and reflexes told me to watch her hands, her bag, her coat. My sense told me to watch her eyes.
She came right up to me, stopping within a foot of me and I could feel her energy, I could smell her scent.
She grabbed me with her eyes, pulling my focus there and initiating the shaking and nervous stomach of apprehension.
We stood there, locked in an optic connection, for what seemed like a long time --- then she blinked and I noticed the tears. Tears had filled eyes and were beginning to move onto her high cheekbones. The passion she was sending to me was filled with pain, with sorrow, with hatred.
Her right hand came up quickly, index finger extended and her mouth opened, but she was struggling to find words. When they finally came, the voice was throaty, raspy, hoarse.
Her finger touched me at the point of my chest. Firmly, but not striking.
"You're nothing but a hit man for the U.S. government."
With that she moved to my left and away.
Physically out of my life. Mentally, forever a part of my spirit.
This Vet suffered that, and other memories, for years until he was introduced to a story about two Buddhist monks named Tanzan and Ekido.
They were travelling down a muddy road during a monsoon rain. When they reached an intersection, they found a beautiful young girl there, in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross the mud.
"Come on girl," said Tanzan, and he lifted her into his arms and carried her over the mud.
Ekido did not speak again until later that evening when he couldn't restrain himself. "We monks do not go near females," he told Tanzan. "Especially not young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did you do that ?!"
"I left the girl there," replied Tanzan. "You are still carrying her."
The Dog called the old radical Ekido, and left the class feeling sorry for him. He carries more baggage than he should.
And, at the end, all-in-all, it was a night to remember.
Kinda like Vee-ett-namb.
Keep the faith.
This Vet suffered that, and other memories, for years until he was introduced to a story about two Buddhist monks named Tanzan and Ekido.
They were travelling down a muddy road during a monsoon rain. When they reached an intersection, they found a beautiful young girl there, in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross the mud.
"Come on girl," said Tanzan, and he lifted her into his arms and carried her over the mud.
Ekido did not speak again until later that evening when he couldn't restrain himself. "We monks do not go near females," he told Tanzan. "Especially not young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did you do that ?!"
"I left the girl there," replied Tanzan. "You are still carrying her."
The Dog called the old radical Ekido, and left the class feeling sorry for him. He carries more baggage than he should.
And, at the end, all-in-all, it was a night to remember.
Kinda like Vee-ett-namb.
Keep the faith.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Dog Sense in Choices
In the Dog's job, I hear how people feel they are overworked, frustrated, stressed, and all sorts of other things, and that troubles me. A lot of the stresses of our daily work come and go, and are expected. They come with the job, that's why they call it "work".
But how often do we ask ourselves if the good outweighs the bad, and do we really enjoy our work, our life?
What truly troubles me is when I hear someone say, “I've been here ___ years and I hate my job”, “I’m only here for the paycheck”, and I know they mean it.
What truly troubles me is when I read comments from our front line staff saying that work would be great if it wasn’t for the people… or the receptionist who said, “I can’t stand working with the people who come in here”.
WHAT??????????
My God, how tragic is that for someone’s life? If you are willing to spend half of your waking hours in a place you don’t like, doing a job you “hate”, with people you can’t stand, something is seriously wrong with you.
And, yes, I know all of the “reasons” people need to keep a job, but I wonder if they’re not really just “excuses” with better dressing? “I need to pay my rent!” “I need to feed my family”. “I need to pay my bills”.
Well, yeah, but so do all of us. So, if we are really so unhappy, should those reasons stop us from looking for something better?
Dog Rule: Don’t mistake a reason for an excuse.
And, yes, I know people need to vent and complain, and that’s fine, but all the time and in every conversation? I’m often reminded of Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion commentary, “People here are miserable and they like it that way. When they wake up in the morning and the sun’s shining and the birds are singing and they’re feeling just dandy… they’re not worried because they know it’ll get worse.”
To be brutally honest, I think it’s too easy to sit around and complain than to actually take any action to improve things. We all get trapped in the complacency of the status quo.
Before you write me off as someone who doesn’t know anything about “real life”, let me explain my thought process. The only relevant point of reference for my work and life load capacity is me, myself, and I. That’s true for anyone, by the way. My belief is that I cannot expect more of anyone than I do of myself.
I grew up with parents who both worked for the railroad. I was a latchkey kid living in an ethnically diverse neighborhood (before we even knew what “ethnically diverse” or “latchkey” meant). I got my first real job (meaning not McDonald's or a paper route) when I was 15. I went in the Marines after high school, because college was not even a remote possibility for our income level (or my interest). I grew up and saw the reality of life and death before I could legally have a beer.
During my 22nd and 23rd year, I started a newspaper, got married, and bought my first house.
During my 25th year, I lost my paper and my income. So I started college and found a job in a hospital (I needed to feed my family, pay my mortgage and my bills…;-). Four years later I graduated with a degree in Economics, and a large student loan. During those four years of college, I also held that full-time job and even got promoted.
Does that make me special? Not even remotely close, are you kidding? In fact that story says just the opposite. It tells me that if I can do it, so could most other people. If they actually want to.
I really never thought about being "over worked" or having too much to do. I never worried about money. I guess, in hindsight, I learned what Michael Todd said, “I’ve been poor, but I’ve never been broke. Being broke is a state of mind. Being poor is only a temporary condition.”
Seriously, I never did think about it. Maybe that was a mistake or my own stupidity? But the thought never crossed my mind, as I think back. I just did it. If I hadn't liked what I was doing, I wouldn't have done it. I would have found something else. How dumb was I?
And, I have had my serious failures and losses too, personally and professionally. I learned from all of them. And, I do take it all personally. If you don't take your life, and your work, personally, you're wasting it. It is all personal, and at times painful, but it is all part of living, isn't it?
So, the point of all of that is why would you want to stay in a job you hate? Is the “money” really worth the time and toil on your life? Do you actually enjoy being miserable? Again… seriously… do you? Ask your family… your friends… to tell you honestly if they think you’re happy.
Think about all the pains and problems you have in your life and think of the one thing that all of them have in common (hint: YOU). But you don’t have to be nasty about it. Fix it.
Yeah, you are.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)