Going on a trip

I’ll be out of the country for a little over a week, so I won’t be able to approve comments or post info until I get back… and I’m recording the Super Bowl -  at least I won’t miss the Titans.

 

‘Twas the Post Before Christmas

 

‘Twas the post before Christmas,

            with no gift for my spouse

My mind was whirring,

            not another lame blouse;

 

The stockings were hung

            by the chimney like a dare,

In hopes that by morning

            they’d be filled with more than just air.

 

The children just wrestled

            with the thoughts in our heads,

We’ll buy them some gifts

            if there’s a rate cut by the Feds;

 

Ma, with spit up on her kerchief

            had the baby in her lap,

As I began to frown

            at a gift I could not wrap-

 

It was almost dawn

            when I heard a little patter,

I wanted to stay in bed

            but the kids began to chatter.

 

I looked out the window

            and there was not even a dash,

Of light on the gutters

            I felt my teeth gnash.

 

I lazily got dressed

            more slowly than slow,

I wanted nothing more

            than a large cup of joe;

 

When, what to my wandering eyes

            should appear,

 But my daughter’s little face

            that filled me with cheer,

 

With little bright eyes

            and a smile laid on thick,

I knew in a moment

            she’d done just the trick.

 

More rapid than eagles

            the gifts all became

Scattered, strewn, and ripped open,

            so I jumped in the game-

 

Now, Barbies!  Now, Books!

            And toy bowls to mix in!

On, Cars!  On, Trucks!

            And football helmets to blitz in!

 

Now under the tree,

            the children all crawl,

To tear into the remaining gifts,

            and just have a ball!

 

I know deep inside

            no matter how hard I try,

Most of the gifts will be forgotten,

            before next July.

 

So what can I give?

            It must be true,

A great gift for your children-

            is the gift of you.

 

And then in a instant,

            I realized my goof

If you don’t believe me

            here is the proof.

 

The toys and the presents

            that lay on the ground,

Were nothing compared

            to the gift that I’d found.

 

When looking for gifts

            to lay at your child’s foot,

Try giving something that won’t tarnish

            and will always stay put.

 

A bundle of toys

            are not what kids lack,

They need time with their parents

            without a panic attack.

 

My eyes they now twinkled!

            My future less scary!

I knew what was important,

            and had been living contrary!

Careers are less important

            than children we know,

Yet we spend most our time

            making more dough!

 

We work very hard

and give ourselves grief,

But this just piles up more

money to bequeath.

 

I’ll spend time with my kids

            and savor peanut butter and jelly,

Instead of only paying attention

            when diapers are smelly.

 

I’ll ignore selfish ambition-

            putting my ego on a shelf,

And focus on something other

            than the advancement of myself.

 

This Christmas will not be filled

            with anxiety and dread,

But with peace and meaning

            and purpose instead.

 

I will not waste my life

            focused solely on work,

High-strung and stressed out;

            and acting like a jerk.

 

So don’t be the person

            who sticks up their nose,

At the brave few

            who find some repose.

 

Even though this world

            is filled with thorn and thistle,

There is no need

            to shoot through it like a missile.

 

Stay true and stay strong

            and fight the good fight,

Remember what Christmas is about

            and you’ll be alright!

 

Cutting Back

No, I’m not talking about our economy.  Due to all of the busyness over the next couple of months, I will only be posting once per week.  I hope everyone has a happy and safe halloween.

 

Significance vs. Success (Part 1)

 One of the main topics of my book is the internal struggle many of us face when we achieve career success but lack fulfillment and significance in our day-to-day work life (or home life).  First, let me say that significance and success are not necessarily diametrical.  The two can coexist peaceably – particularly when we redefine success (more on that later).  Additionally, success itself is not evil.  Forsaking our passions and ignoring our life’s mission, however, is.

Yeah, I said it.  Passion and life mission are not words that are typically overheard around a conference table.  We would rather use words and phrases like synergistic optimization, ergonomically designed standardization, or team-oriented global front-line implementation… huh?  This is one of our defense mechanisms – rather than use words that are meaningful but uncomfortable; we prefer to use words that are meaningless yet pleasingly sterile.   It’s almost like we try to remove any tidbit of passion from our business life only to wonder why we are so dissatisfied and unfulfilled when it comes to our careers. 

Don’t get me wrong – this blog is not about job bashing.  Not everyone hates their job.  However, my career has taken me to numerous facilities all over the country and every one of them is filled with people who are terribly frustrated with what their career has become.  There are the typical scapegoats:  office politics, bosses with the intellectual horsepower of a Toyota Prius, annoying coworkers, and corporate interference.  In fact, most of us can watch an episode of The Office and identify each character in our own workplace.  But what is it that really has us frustrated?  I mean, if it is our jobs that are so terrible, why don’t we just quit?

This is where the success thing comes into play and the great big can of worms is opened.  I think a lot of us are like Johnny Ringo in Tombstone.  In the words of Doc Holiday, “A man like Ringo…got a great empty hole right through the middle of him.”  There are numerous reasons why a person may have a sense of emptiness.  One of these is that we are not fulfilling our life mission and we try to fill the resulting emptiness with career success.  The downward spiral continues because we know that we are not spending our God-given time, talent, and effort pursuing our passions and this causes the emptiness to grow.  When the emptiness grows, our response is to increase our efforts towards chasing success, which is the very thing that widened the gap in the first place.  Before long, we have a hard time giving up what we call success (money, power, and recognition) even though the pursuit of these things is preventing our sense of fulfillment. 

“Poor soul.  You were just too high-strung.”