Current mood: calm
In the lean times of economic turmoil, it is very important to sit an meditate (think or analyze) on the place we are and what role we play. With out the constant validation of success or “at-a-boy”(or girl) we tend to lose hope, focus and the will to keep trying. I went through this a LOT last year as my business had failed and I was looking for a new path.
I am doing much better today. The proper application of sleep, meditation and introspection helps incredibly.
Lessons learned:
Lesson 1: I am not a Farmer…
I have been praying for rain (monetary help) and plowing fields (interviews, projects etc.) but the problem is that I am not a farmer. I am a fisherman. What that means is that I have been approaching my tasks with the planning of a person who has all the resources ($$) , patience (time) and fealty (loyalty to an idea) of a farmer.
- The farmer needs land (office), seed (money), and provisions until the season bears fruit. The fisherman just needs his net (tools) and skill.
- The farmer’s time to produce is measured in seasons (months). The Fisherman’s time is measured in tides (hours).
- The farmer is bound to the land he toils (employer, or project). The fisherman is bound to the fish (the work and the people). If the fish move, so does the fisherman.
Lesson 2: The tide is coming in… Wait for the tide…
A bird was digging for crabs and other ’sea bugs’ on a shallow beach. The tide slowly came in came closer to the bird who was easily able to walk among the small waves. Instead of getting wet the bird flew away to another spot down the shore. Had the bird stayed at his location he would have seen the small crabs washed up by the incoming tide.
- I would work on a project and then either get bored or don’t want to deal with the hassle (like getting wet) and so I would fly off to another project before the current one has run its course. I will now stick around for the completion and the pay-off.
Plus I like seafood. -_^
Summary:
I have the skill set and the tools I need to be working, productive and successful. I will not lose interest in the process nor will I get lost in the unproductive time. I need to continue to strive for balance between work and living.
Thank you for reading and for comments…
– Be Yourself, Be Well, and Be Loved,
May Jesus have His way with your day
He is Founder and consultant for Tek Management,
Founder of the Men’s Leadership site: CalebStrong.org,
Co-Founder of the online Bible study app: BibleCounts
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Interesting theory, Gary. Did you read about it or hear about it somewhere else? I’m not sure whether I would be a fisherman or a farmer or maybe something else. Thanks for posting it.
This is all me.. Well all my thoughts as inspired by the higher powers about me. 😉
Last year some time, I decided that I would take 30 minutes to an hour each day to sit and meditate, or observe in silence the world around me. The universe in general (and God specifically) is always speaking and inspiring us but we are all to wrapped up and occupied to listen. The day of this particular inspiration I was sitting on the beach down the street from the La Jolla office and taking my morning meditation as I observed the birds and the like. At that point I realized the problem was that I was trying to “farm” when I should be trying to “fish”. And it all went down hill from there. 😉
I began creating these classification of effort into categories like, farming, fishing, hunting, gathering etc…
I think, anthropologically, this is an extension of our early civilization roles inside the village cultures.
I will probably turn this into one of our coaching classes once I finish developing the concept.