IMPECCABLE DESIGNS

COURAGE BUILDS WHAT BAFFLES THE TIMID

The sketches are impeccable. Our drafts likewise are divine. Every detail is included except our commitment to accomplishing. We omit this and let time drift until we can no longer follow their form. Then the impeccable doesn't matter because time has scattered our potential.

STEP ON IT

How many steps does it take before we step on someone else? Are we too close to tell or do we just not care? How much of our errors result from dwelling too closely? How much moreover reflects our indifference to community? Are we so overwhelmed that passion fails? When will we become responsible for our neighbors? Has this sentiment ever prospered?

ADVANTAGES

Advantages are necessities in some circles. Thus some children get cars when they get their license. Others get lectured on the virtues of thrift. Privilege is denied yet kindled is their passion to obtain; without which success would elude.

SQUEEZING TIME

We should squeeze the hour until diligence towers unchallenged.

We are too easy on time. When it squeals we yield prematurely our grip, letting it slip without supplying what we need. Our ears are too tender for us to be firmer than we are. In being so, time towers instead.

ON THE END

The end is always near for someone. Who, however, we can't always say. But when it hits they will get what has indefinitely plagued. Then fortune will favor and fate will wither, awed by Destiny's power to deliver its promise to those who remain honest with themselves and committed to their dreams.

OUR DREAMS

We pursue until we possess or become discouraged and change our minds.

Why do we wait so long to pursue our dreams? What makes us indefinite procrastinators? How can we spend years looking at others and days debating ourselves before embarking? Are the times that contrary or are we too cautious? Why must we be fed up before venturing out?

HELPING OTHERS

To infuse the familiar with freshness is a gift of grace and a mark of genius.

Helping others nurtures success. You must be able to do this or your influence will fade. It's not enough to impress others with your knowledge. On the contrary, you must help them benefit from it. If you can show them how to achieve their greatness, you secure your own.

ON TIMIDITY

The timid must be encouraged to do even the obvious. Somehow the assurance of others comforts them. They know what to do but are afraid to do it, prevented perhaps by a fear of failure or dark memories of a demanding parent. Even so, their unwillingness to do the obvious makes them unlikely to do the impossible.

A VULNERABLE PLACE

Opportunity obliges the soul's request for more.

I'm in a vulnerable place --no job and no immediate plans or ultimate desire to seek one. I'm not lazy or crazy but I am concerned. I know that it takes money to live. But I don't believe that getting a job will solve my problem, though it will ease my anxieties.

But once these settle I'll become as sour as I was before, probably more so. I know too much to retreat, at least I think I do. I know that God has sanctioned this season. I must have time to write. I'm convinced of it though I've tried to deny it, but I can't.

Still, whenever I open the mail I'm reminded of what I "should" be doing. Whenever I open my eyes in the morning and close them at night, I'm keenly conscious of my need for cash. Money, after all, controls. Everything serves its interest. For most of us this means that we only have a moment to prosper by our passion. Otherwise necessity usurps.

Unless we're single or insane we can't indulge our passion indefinitely. It costs too much and returns too little. Combine this with the advice of well-meaning friends and it's impossible for most people to endure such pressure. Ironically, however, this dilemma also contains its own solution.

Unlike the great, most people can't bear the burden of their reality. Thus the pressures that embolden these breaks them. So much, until they forsake their passion and compromise emotionally. Doing so temporarily, however, isn't wrong. It is, in fact, wise. But many, in leaving their passion, get trapped in a profession.

That's the problem. Like a book they buy intending to read, their passion remains on the shelf unopened by them and unread by others. Yet I understand. Pressure is real no matter how impassioned we are. That's why greatness is revered wherever it's revealed. Great pressure can only be subdued by an even greater passion.

SOME PEOPLE

"Apt" laughs at resistance.

Some people deserve success but don't desire it and thus forfeit it, being indifferent to their abilities and opportunities. Maybe not indifferent, but they aren't as intense as we would be if we were endowed. Though allowed, their ought to be a law prohibiting.

ON TUNNELS

Tunnels enable us to triumph.

The tunnel is inevitable for some. Else they won’t accomplish accordingly the designs of destiny. Thus nature closes their eyes or perhaps causes them to despise what others enjoy. In doing so, they bow their heads and brace themselves. By the time they finish, their labors witness and their deeds tell. Without tunnel vision, however, they would have failed.

Work, Why?

Work if you must, but don't if you can.

I refuse to work overtime. I have now for the last 12 years. In fact I seldom get forty hours. After 35 I don't care. It's not that I can't use the money. I just don't have the time. I'd rather spend my extra hours writing than working. Besides, I seldom receive adequate return. So, I'm content with 35. My boss doesn't like it; but before he finds out I've begun a new week with a new warning, "Get 40 this time." (9/12/00)

FINDING COURAGE

Without courage counsel fails.

Cowards complain about circumstances they tolerate. Favorably placed, however, they believe that they could prosper. No doubt they could. Properly planted, each of us could excel. But what cowards forget is that favorable circumstances stem from courage. It's a matter of making a miracle from a mess. Yet without courage circumstances swallow.

If, however, they actualized even one of their ideas they would create favorable conditions. Eventually, they could transform their greatest tragedy. Of course they believe that courage will help others but not themselves. Deceived by circumstances, they forfeit this grace. Strangers pity their plight and friends frustrate themselves trying to console. They forget, however, that without courage counsel fails. (9/6/00)

DOES IT REALLY MATTER

When at work I'm aware that I'm not doing anything. I mingle with coworkers and carryout management concerns, but still feel that nothing is being accomplished. I cash my check and complete my responsibilities, but still, I'm doing nothing. The people are pleasant, the facilities decent, yet I'm not doing anything. Even the conversations corrupt. Most are so empty that they leave me angry. I watch people work and wonder, "Why are we here?"

I'm grateful for the work but still don't believe that I am doing anything. The moment I exit my car and enter the building I'm immediately reminded of my idleness. By nine o'clock I'm clueless. Then I become distant and dysfunctional, walking in circles and talking out of sequence. My thoughts become antagonistic to the environment. My only remedy for this malady is solitude, without which I would explode. During these times, I go inside myself for sustenance. Afterwards I emerge refreshed, revived and committed to leaving. (9/6/00)

TODAY

Some day never arrives if we fail to use today.

I'm sitting at work watching people doing nothing. What a waste! Some are checking emails and others are being blackmailed. Time is the ransom they pay for neglecting their talent. Instead, they play and complain about their circumstances. Who cares! It's up to the person not the employer to improve himself. Jobs aren't designed to satisfy our quest for growth or yearning for greatness. Most only require a partial commitment. Growth begins, however, when we commit. Until then we play, pretend, and squander our potential in narrow places.

PASSION AND PROTOCOL

Protocol covets what passion uncovers.

Some companies deify decorum though spontaneity might better serve. In doing so, they subject inspiration to order and passion to protocol. What they ignore, however, is the value of both. Embraced, order sustains inspiration and protocol prolongs passion, multiplying its power. Alone, however, order depletes.

Observe, for example, any workplace meeting and watch as participants deny themselves in an effort to appease others. Each says not what she thinks but rather what is expected. In doing so, however, she lets decorum deprive. Until she is willing to be genuine she denies her genius, because genius is always passionate though protocol prohibits.

People, not systems, are insidious.

The division of labor deforms lives. Of course, no rational person will deny the benefits of work apportioned properly. But this segmentation aside, many people under-achieve because of being misplaced. Most in fact fail, slain by potential designed to prosper. Unfortunately most jobs don't employ our excellence. They hire our hands and feet but not our faith. They reject this faculty so much that today's workforce is febrile.

Examine, for example, the average office and you'll find a fragmented worker doing frustrating work. Like a dog or domestic he blindly obeys, seldom transcending his orders. Competence not excellence is his character. To this soul even hobbies profane. Exploited, however, hobbies impart the fulfillment that our jobs don't. Yet drained by work they die of neglect.

Meanwhile others watch us as we grope through the day and mope through life seeking solace. In truth, it isn't even a matter of being all we can, but rather of being who we are. Anything less exhausts. That's why success seduces. Those who achieve it are alive to life. They use their hands and feet but aren't confined to these. They are innovators and executors, resilient and resourceful advocates of excellence. They pursue their dreams, defy their limits, and don't let labor's division deform their lives. (9/5/00)

MISPLACED

Out of our element we decay.

Good people rot in the wrong job. Potential is poisoned and relationships are ruined all because of being misplaced. Much of the discord that destroys workplace harmony occurs because the right person is doing the wrong job. They may have the ability but not the passion, so friction follows. Misplaced, all of us are misfits. Moreover if we aren't careful we'll create a philosophy to justify our passivity. Then we shirk our responsibility and shift it to God. He and our coworkers become the conspirators impeding our progress.

Even so, it's up to us not others to evolve. God of course does contribute, but not as we imagine. His role is that of teacher, revealing to us our assets. He also exposes the folly of following blindly. Then He challenges us to channel our energies accordingly. Unfortunately, however, many people are simply too passive. They compromise and complain, wondering when God will intervene. But they fail to realize that intervention begins when we commit to our dreams. Until then, we will repeat the same lessons and forfeit the marvelous life awaiting us. Sadly, passive people are the worst people in the workplace. (9/5/00)

SMALL TALK

The breeze that blows on others doesn't cool us.

I'm tired of hearing my coworkers rehearse other people's success. It's as if they don't have dreams of their own to accomplish. Why? How does praising Tiger prosper them? It doesn't! But at work that's all people do. They'll waste half a day and most of life lauding others. Doing so is okay occasionally. We all need the diversion that others provide. But after awhile it's abnormal, annoying for me.

I don't care how well others are doing when my own life lags. I can't spend their money or respect. I must earn my own. But if I don't set goals I'll fail. I bet these achievers didn't succeed by surveying other people's lives. Instead they set concrete goals and took deliberate steps toward their dreams. They knew that time was too short and life too uncertain to procrastinate. These are the people I admire --dreamers who do-- not cowards who talk. (9/5/00)

THE CLOCK

Get up, now, and do something!

I'm sitting in a room listening to people talk on the phone. How boring! Most are inadequately trained and the others are professionally unsuitable. But that doesn't matter because they need to work, and the company needs the workers. So, the madness will continue; if not here and now, then elsewhere with others. I guess work is the penalty we pay for ignoring our passion. (9/5/00)