Having been a cabinet manufacturer for 25 years, the times someone would ask a question about cabinets or cabinet manufacturing that I didn't know the answer to could be counted on one hand, and every question that I did not know the answer to, I knew where to find the answer.
Lots of friends, acquaintances and family members have asked me if I miss the cabinet business, to which I typically reply: "No, not really. What I do miss though, is being an expert." As time has marched on, and the daily struggle of learning new things, attempting to gain expert status again in a new field altogether, I have come to the realization that I may not be articulating that just right.
Let me take a quick detour to explain what I mean. As most of you know, I have just come off a 2 year sabbatical, and a year and a half of that sabbatical has included my youngest daughter moving home with our first grandchild (Princess Buttercup for those that don't know, or as her mommy and most everyone else mistakenly call her, Epperley).
 |
| Wanna play nap time GrandBob? |
Having this little 3 year old bundle of intense love living under my roof, hanging around all day everyday, while I too have been hanging around all day everyday has led to some "Invitations". Her latest invitation comes in the form of "it's time to take a rest GrandBob, let's get my babies and let's all take a nap".
So we go about the incredibly important task of selecting just the right babies, which can be anywhere from 2 to 10,000 (or something inbetween). Then we head up the stairs with all the babies in tow and climb up into the bed. That my friends is an invitation I can't ignore or refuse, no matter how busy I am, I just can't say no.
As I reflect on my new career choice, and lament my lack of expert status, I have begun to see that it's not really the lack of expert status I miss most, it's the lack of invitations to do business. You see, it's been so long since I had to beat the bushes for business, that I had almost forgotten what it's like. The most desirable side effect of being an expert is that you are frequently invited to do business.
Don't get me wrong, I genuinely miss being the expert, but I miss being invited to do business even more. I'm not saying being invited to do business is commercial nirvana, because it's not. Not everyone that invited me to do business with them ultimately chose to do business with me, but I had a better shot at it than all the folks who came looking to do business.
For those that did choose to do business with me, I still had to perform, I had to perform well, I had to put on my A game, take care of that business, and it was work. Playing nap time with my granddaughter is not all fun and games. There are always elements of every good thing that we don't like, for me and nap time, it's the word "switch". Switch makes nap time less fun for me, but it makes nap time infinitely more special for her (it proves to her that I am listening, that I am all in, not just pretending to play nap time). When the princess says switch, that means GrandBob gets out of the bed and walks to the other side and gets back in and uncovers (uncovers means get under the covers in Buttercup speak).
 |
| Credit: Cordell |
I know what you're thinking, how hard is that, what's the big deal GrandBob? Well, the first 2 to 4 times are no big deal at all, but at about "switch" number 20, one starts to lose the joy of the Lord, it becomes work. For me personally though, the fact that she invited me into her world makes the work all worth it. I'm willing to work to increase her joy, to magnify her love for me. I suppose I would jump off the Empire State building if she told me to, and I'm pretty sure she knows that.
This little game of nap time has taught me, through the whispers of my God, that I just need to do the work, and the invitations to do business will come again, and come in abundance, overflowing abundance. So here I go putting my nose to the grindstone, putting my back into it, grabbing hold of that plow. Working to become an expert one more time, working to gain the level of trust it takes to be invited to do business.
No comments:
Post a Comment