Re-making Boxes

Don't let others define you

Based on arbitrary categories

That align in neat boxes;

Define yourself based on who

You were made to be.

We are each uniquely suited

To some task that lies always before us

And that which we do each day

Prepares us for the moment

We step into the gap.

Our lives become a series

Of those gaps where we are the part

Which fills the need that

None other can fill because we alone

Have what is needed.

Boxes are empty places

Surrounded by walls

That attempt to contain

When what we need is to

Grow to our potential.

We speak of thinking

Outside the box when what we

Should be doing is redefining

The boxes in which we find

Our true selves.

Peaceful Presence

There are pathways in my mind

Where I walk in silent thought,

Lost.

There I am surrounded by

An encompassing cocoon of

Peace.

It is then I feel the

Comforting presence of

God.

Trapped in a Box

One of the things we tend to do with the people we meet is to place them in categories.  This is especially true when it comes to the workplace where people are largely defined by what they do.  An engineer is an engineer.  A biologist is a biologist.  A feedyard manager is a jack-of-all-trades related to cattle.  Yeah, they are somewhat of an exception.

The trouble with placing people into categories is that we sometimes miss the fact that there is more to that person than what their career path has defined.  The engineer may also be a pianist.  The biologist might have a hobby farm that employs advanced agronomic techniques.  The feedyard manager -- well, he's so totally immersed in cattle that he probably has a cow/calf operation on the side, or is a golfer -- which in a way is related since it is chasing a little white ball around a pasture.

Every once in a rare while you run across someone who is proficient in multiple areas.  I'm not just talking about a generalist such as I have mentioned in previous posts, I'm thinking of those individuals who have multiple varied interests that they pursue simultaneously.  You might be able to recognize them by their circuitous career path.  It isn't linear, but may cross disciplines in unexpected ways.  I probably fit into that category.

One of the "buzz phrases" that has made its way around the world of business has been related to "thinking outside the box."  There is much to be said for the concept in that it refers to drawing ideas from unexpected areas.  It says, "don't be trapped in your thinking by convention."  I suppose I've never been particularly conventional and tend to respond to the concept with, "what box?"

We place people into boxes -- those categories I mentioned in the first sentence.  Sometimes we trap them in those boxes.  We fail to recognize that there is likely much more potential to that individual than is defined by the "box" we have them categorized into.  Every person has value beyond their role in an organization.  We need to find ways to tap that value and unleash the creativity that comes with it.  Who knows, maybe the future CEO is currently serving as the janitor....

A Lonely High Place

It has seemed like a long week. I headed for Kansas on Monday and worked there for a few days before working my way back south. I had numerous good sales calls which should have me fired up but for some reason it just hasn't been that way. I think I need to go find a high place and sit awhile.

Sometimes I have the need to climb a hill and just sit and stare off into the distance. That probably seems strange to most people but there are plenty of others like me. You find them in National Parks or on river banks or on horseback. They generally feel comfortable alone. They need space. They need time to think.

It seems sometimes
The clutter in my head
Needs airing out.

Those are the times
I find a lonely place
And sit a think.

Perhaps to say I think
Is a mischaracterization
Of what I do.

A better description
Might be to say
I spend some time just being.

For those of you not familiar
With what just being entails,
It is the opposite of doing.

The best thing about just being
Is that the clutter in my mind
Gets organized

And my thoughts become clearer
Until the peace that enters in
Allows me to hear God.

The Truth of the Matter

I find sometimes
That my chain of thought
Though consciously followed,
Resembles a dream
In its convolutions.
The links are often
Hard to discern but
Inevitably lead me
Down a path that flows
Naturally to a point at which
The disparate pieces
Rejoin in a stream
Leading to conclusions
Beyond the expected.
The interwoven threads
Display interconnectedness
And interdependence that
Create a tapestry of
Complexity escaping
Apparent solution.
Is it a paralysis due to
Failure of sifting the
Relevant from that which
Is immaterial?
Or, is it merely the
Truth of the matter
Revealing that in myself
There is insufficient wisdom
And that I must look
To higher sources
For conclusion?