Planning is a funny thing.
I spent most of today doing it. I find it to be a weird combination of visioning--dreaming of what 'might' be--and preparing, so that you'll be able to 'do' what needs doing to see the dream made reality, and waiting--because, at root, you don't have everything within yourself needed to make the 'thing' you're planning happen--and mundane workmanlike toil.
In-fact, the workmanlike aspect of achievement cannot be overstated.
If you think back over the things you've done for which you're most grateful and that--in your estimation--made the greatest impact on those around you, chances are you'll agree with me that most of the work that went into making that 'thing' happen was simple, one-step-at-a-time, non-rocket science type, simple work.
Like working an assembly line.
I did that for a while. In fact, last time I was out of the pulpit for two years I spent several months of that 'hiatus' working as a 'temp' at a local Pepsi plant. I'll never forget sitting in the temp office, doing an ESL test (my first degree is English/History) and feeling like I'd truly hit rock-bottom. Anyway, I got hired, and started out painting the yellow steel posts that dotted the plant--posts intended to protect the machinery from the forklifts and their insane Mario Andretti-wanna' be drivers.
I was painting the things to get 'em pretty for the CEO who was about to tour our plant.
Once all the painting was done I got 'promoted' to sweeper. And so me and the two other temps who'd been hired at the same time got to sweeping.
And that's where I really started pulling away from the pack.
See, the two other dudes were lazy. They didn't really work hard. When we were painting it was hard to track our progress. The posts were scattered all over the plant, many of them hidden in nooks and crannies and out of the way corners so that the supervisors couldn't watch us at all times. So long as each day it looked like more posts were getting painted (most of them by 'you know who') no-one really cared.
But when we started sweeping, well, all the sweeping took place in the main public areas of the plant for these were the areas the CEO was most likely going to tour. So for the duration of our nine hour shift, we swept areas totally populated with the other plant workers and supervisors. And, that said, I still find it amazing that my two fellow temps continued to 'laze out'.
Seriously, the one dude, a tremendously fat and disgruntled former post-office worker (no joke) simply placed the end of the broom stick atop his belly, wedged in between two rolls of fat, and strolled around the plant all night, 'sweeping'.
I wasn't the least bit surprised to see him fired two nights later.
Me? I swept like a madman. No boasting here--I was, after all, the lowest of the low at the plant and that's nothing to boast of--I simply figured that if I had to work in a Pepsi plant for nine hours in the middle of the night I might as well work as hard as I could in the hopes that the time might pass a little quicker.
Wouldn't you know it, the CEO visit came and went, the other two temps got fired and I got promoted (for real this time) to 'machine operator' where I began running the machine that made all the 24 can cases of Pepsi product for the Greater Toronto Area. The woman who had run the machine before me had been 'scalped' a month previous as she bent beneath the machine to try and clear a 'jam' without shutting it off as protocol demanded and one of our supervisors had been running it since.
Turns out he'd been watching me sweep, decided to take me under his wing, taught me the ropes over two nights and then let me at it.
"Mr. Machine Operator" that's me.
The point being that good things come if and as you work hard, simply, humbly and with a workmanlike attitude.
So as you plan your life--as I'm currently planning mine through the end of 2010 and beyond--don't get discouraged by the enormity of the task--"How will I ever paint all those posts? How will I ever sweep all this? When will I ever get promoted? When will I get out of here and back to producing and preaching?"--just put your head down, get some vision, start dreaming, get studying so that you'll be prepared when the time does finally come and, while you're waiting, stay full of faith.
Because He who called you is faithful.
T
1 comment:
Fantastic post and one I identify with as I've always been the best at every job I've done while others go at it in a lazy fashion. Sometimes I'd get mad that I was the only one working but who knows how many people were watching and some appreciated it. You never know who you impact and what it may lead too.
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