Hi everyone!!
It has been quite the cold snap for our region the last few days...but at least the sun is shining, so it keeps the spirits up while your hunkered down in to avoid frostbite!!
I wanted to jump on here for a little bit today because last night at work, I had a conversation with a young man during a smoke break that really brought to light a sort of self-defeating attitude or excuse to not try, not execute your best YOU. It really got me thinking about how prevalent this attitude is in our society.
Are we that HINGED to outer validation that we would place ourselves in a position of expecting the very least of ourselves as okay? And WHY would we take the "initiative of others" into ANY account whatsoever as a measure of our own? I just don't GET that. What he said to me was something I have heard this SO MANY TIMES from SO MANY PEOPLE before and it is SUCH a common complaint...but for some reason, THIS TIME, it spurred me into "wisdom mode"
His statement: "Yeah, I don't even care anymore. Why should I bust my ass when I see everyone else slacking...we get paid the same---you remember when I first started here how I used to MOVE and work my ass off...but I notice everyone else just standing around, so why should I pull their weight?"
My response: Because YOU were hired to do a job. Because YOU are more concerned with the preservation of YOUR dignity than someone else is of theirs? Because what everyone else does or doesn't do has nothing to do with YOUR work ethic? Or maybe because you EXPECT MORE OF YOURSELF than the half-assed job you perceive everyone else to be doing. Or perhaps, your character is yours to build, uphold, and prize.
Why do so many use other people's shortcomings to justify their own...because there is power in numbers and it gives YOU a better excuse? When I started there, my mindset was totally opposite of this. I observed others...only as a compass to learn the pace and build a system of my own that would help me to become MORE efficient. I have no desire to compare myself to anyone else OR compete with them. I go into my job with a "I'm gonna kill this shift" attitude....and it is NOT to gain any kind of recognition, but simply so I can sleep at night. lol.
WHY would anyone LIMIT their capabilities just to fit into a norm? I don't want to fit in...especially if it means DUMBING myself down. I would rather stand out...however, that isn't even my reason.
I believe that everyone is destined for greatness...however, I think we need to step out of our own way sometimes in order to achieve it. Speaking for myself, I get frustrated when I feel I am in a position where I CANNOT execute all that I am capable of. It has nothing to do with recognition or accolades from onlookers. It has to do with some code that seems to be hard-wired into me, I guess.
Someday, just LISTEN. Its no wonder the ratio of success is in such disproportion to the innumerable possibilities. The "MAN' ain't holding us down...we're holding ourselves down with all of this "I'm not doing any more than anyone else is doing...why should I? How about because YOU CAN. I'm beginning to see this "because I can" thing more as a defeatist proposition to get OUT of doing....than the push for success it should be used for.
To be honest, I think my response hit a chord with this young man. He stood speechless for a moment (most-likely because he was stunned that he wasn't going to lead me into this mentality along with him and agree)..but then...his face brightened up a bit and he said "ya know what, you're right...I guess I never really looked at it that way before."
Although it made me happy that I could lend this young man a more positive perspective, it also made me sad that "he never thought about it that way before." We really need to instill in our children their value. If they value themselves, they view everything they do, say, and the way they behave as an outer display OF that value and when it is strong, it doesn't waver in the midst of conflicting influence. The most important thing you can do in this life is be and stay true to yourself--DESPITE what everyone around you is doing.
End of story.
Good day!!
It has been quite the cold snap for our region the last few days...but at least the sun is shining, so it keeps the spirits up while your hunkered down in to avoid frostbite!!
I wanted to jump on here for a little bit today because last night at work, I had a conversation with a young man during a smoke break that really brought to light a sort of self-defeating attitude or excuse to not try, not execute your best YOU. It really got me thinking about how prevalent this attitude is in our society.
Are we that HINGED to outer validation that we would place ourselves in a position of expecting the very least of ourselves as okay? And WHY would we take the "initiative of others" into ANY account whatsoever as a measure of our own? I just don't GET that. What he said to me was something I have heard this SO MANY TIMES from SO MANY PEOPLE before and it is SUCH a common complaint...but for some reason, THIS TIME, it spurred me into "wisdom mode"
His statement: "Yeah, I don't even care anymore. Why should I bust my ass when I see everyone else slacking...we get paid the same---you remember when I first started here how I used to MOVE and work my ass off...but I notice everyone else just standing around, so why should I pull their weight?"
My response: Because YOU were hired to do a job. Because YOU are more concerned with the preservation of YOUR dignity than someone else is of theirs? Because what everyone else does or doesn't do has nothing to do with YOUR work ethic? Or maybe because you EXPECT MORE OF YOURSELF than the half-assed job you perceive everyone else to be doing. Or perhaps, your character is yours to build, uphold, and prize.
Why do so many use other people's shortcomings to justify their own...because there is power in numbers and it gives YOU a better excuse? When I started there, my mindset was totally opposite of this. I observed others...only as a compass to learn the pace and build a system of my own that would help me to become MORE efficient. I have no desire to compare myself to anyone else OR compete with them. I go into my job with a "I'm gonna kill this shift" attitude....and it is NOT to gain any kind of recognition, but simply so I can sleep at night. lol.
WHY would anyone LIMIT their capabilities just to fit into a norm? I don't want to fit in...especially if it means DUMBING myself down. I would rather stand out...however, that isn't even my reason.
I believe that everyone is destined for greatness...however, I think we need to step out of our own way sometimes in order to achieve it. Speaking for myself, I get frustrated when I feel I am in a position where I CANNOT execute all that I am capable of. It has nothing to do with recognition or accolades from onlookers. It has to do with some code that seems to be hard-wired into me, I guess.
Someday, just LISTEN. Its no wonder the ratio of success is in such disproportion to the innumerable possibilities. The "MAN' ain't holding us down...we're holding ourselves down with all of this "I'm not doing any more than anyone else is doing...why should I? How about because YOU CAN. I'm beginning to see this "because I can" thing more as a defeatist proposition to get OUT of doing....than the push for success it should be used for.
To be honest, I think my response hit a chord with this young man. He stood speechless for a moment (most-likely because he was stunned that he wasn't going to lead me into this mentality along with him and agree)..but then...his face brightened up a bit and he said "ya know what, you're right...I guess I never really looked at it that way before."
Although it made me happy that I could lend this young man a more positive perspective, it also made me sad that "he never thought about it that way before." We really need to instill in our children their value. If they value themselves, they view everything they do, say, and the way they behave as an outer display OF that value and when it is strong, it doesn't waver in the midst of conflicting influence. The most important thing you can do in this life is be and stay true to yourself--DESPITE what everyone around you is doing.
End of story.
Good day!!
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