Mission Statements
I've had a lot of people asking me if turning 50 is difficult on my already fragile, feeble mind.
"I'd rather do it than not," I told my beautiful wife when she inquired.
Yet there certainly are moments when you do the whole 'taking stock' thing. Life is never perfect, right, but there are moments when you want to say:
I'm doing okay in THAT at least.
I have resigned myself into knowing that I will never not think about things and try to work out the kinks. I truly envy the people who seem to be skating through life without a care in the world.
I suspect that they are also lying.
Still...
...the taking stock thing reared its head as I trudged through an active demolition job. We've already talked about my fascination with finding old newspapers and old discarded parts of life.
Well on Friday I sort of hit a gold mine.
I'm not sure what type of business it was but I stumbled on old discarded human resources files and a bunch of Mission Statements that were completed by the employees who had once gathered there. The first one I picked up caught my immediate attention.
The question asked:
What are tangible and intangible things that you would most like to have in life?
Halfway through the answer, and judging by the neat handwriting I knew that I was dealing with a young woman.
A beautiful home that is bright with lots of windows, she began (quite a detective picking out 'woman' there, huh?).
I want unique furniture and a big backyard with lots of trees and water. I want a happy and successful husband and I want extra wealth. I want more good, fun friends. I want to be a healthy, happy Mom.
Before I poop all over this woman, I guess that those are all things that we all want. Yet the thing that made my stomach turn was that she used the phrase, I want.
There's more:
I want to travel to Europe and Africa and Israel and South America.
I want to take up knitting again.
I want to create beautiful things.
I want to buy a beautiful home.
I want to be a successful business woman who is strong, confident and highly respected.
I want to be beautiful and sexy and kind, smart and humble.
I want to be articulate, interesting, fun, less serious and more carefree.
In the very last paragraph she mentions her husband-to-be.
I want Wayne to be the man he wants to be and to make me happy.
F&*King run, Wayne!
Run until your legs can't carry you any more, and then crawl away and hide in the bush until you don't hear her anymore.
And I'm not being cynical here, but there's a moment in time when life sours a little on such high expectations, and you think to yourself:
1). Mission Statements Are Stupid.
and
2). The Pressure We Put On Ourselves Can Be Crushing.
Now that's not to say that goals are dumb...they aren't. I set a lot of personal goals on a rather routine basis. I just know a few things about doing it as I approach the 5-0.
First:
You can't buy a beautiful home...you build it...by what is inside. The light from the outside is less important than the light burning in the interior.
Second:
Success will find you if you are willing to work hard.
Third:
What people perceive you to be is way less important than what you perceive you to be.
Fourth:
Knitting?
Fifth:
Consistency in behavior will allow you to feel good about the physical wreck that you will eventually become. You certainly waste a lot of time thinking about how you look in a physical sense. You're eventually going to be a train wreck, honey...don't worry about it.
Sixth:
Wayne has a big job ahead of him if you're waiting for him to make you happy. He can't make your dreams come true - but as Bruce once said in the fabulous song - I Wanna' Marry You -
To say I can make your dreams come true would be wrong, but maybe, darlin' I can help them along.
And finally...
Seventh:
When part of the mission falls flat as it probably will:
Forgive yourself.
It's the best way to keep on going.
To dream to dream another day.
"I'd rather do it than not," I told my beautiful wife when she inquired.
Yet there certainly are moments when you do the whole 'taking stock' thing. Life is never perfect, right, but there are moments when you want to say:
I'm doing okay in THAT at least.
I have resigned myself into knowing that I will never not think about things and try to work out the kinks. I truly envy the people who seem to be skating through life without a care in the world.
I suspect that they are also lying.
Still...
...the taking stock thing reared its head as I trudged through an active demolition job. We've already talked about my fascination with finding old newspapers and old discarded parts of life.
Well on Friday I sort of hit a gold mine.
I'm not sure what type of business it was but I stumbled on old discarded human resources files and a bunch of Mission Statements that were completed by the employees who had once gathered there. The first one I picked up caught my immediate attention.
The question asked:
What are tangible and intangible things that you would most like to have in life?
Halfway through the answer, and judging by the neat handwriting I knew that I was dealing with a young woman.
A beautiful home that is bright with lots of windows, she began (quite a detective picking out 'woman' there, huh?).
I want unique furniture and a big backyard with lots of trees and water. I want a happy and successful husband and I want extra wealth. I want more good, fun friends. I want to be a healthy, happy Mom.
Before I poop all over this woman, I guess that those are all things that we all want. Yet the thing that made my stomach turn was that she used the phrase, I want.
There's more:
I want to travel to Europe and Africa and Israel and South America.
I want to take up knitting again.
I want to create beautiful things.
I want to buy a beautiful home.
I want to be a successful business woman who is strong, confident and highly respected.
I want to be beautiful and sexy and kind, smart and humble.
I want to be articulate, interesting, fun, less serious and more carefree.
In the very last paragraph she mentions her husband-to-be.
I want Wayne to be the man he wants to be and to make me happy.
F&*King run, Wayne!
Run until your legs can't carry you any more, and then crawl away and hide in the bush until you don't hear her anymore.
And I'm not being cynical here, but there's a moment in time when life sours a little on such high expectations, and you think to yourself:
1). Mission Statements Are Stupid.
and
2). The Pressure We Put On Ourselves Can Be Crushing.
Now that's not to say that goals are dumb...they aren't. I set a lot of personal goals on a rather routine basis. I just know a few things about doing it as I approach the 5-0.
First:
You can't buy a beautiful home...you build it...by what is inside. The light from the outside is less important than the light burning in the interior.
Second:
Success will find you if you are willing to work hard.
Third:
What people perceive you to be is way less important than what you perceive you to be.
Fourth:
Knitting?
Fifth:
Consistency in behavior will allow you to feel good about the physical wreck that you will eventually become. You certainly waste a lot of time thinking about how you look in a physical sense. You're eventually going to be a train wreck, honey...don't worry about it.
Sixth:
Wayne has a big job ahead of him if you're waiting for him to make you happy. He can't make your dreams come true - but as Bruce once said in the fabulous song - I Wanna' Marry You -
To say I can make your dreams come true would be wrong, but maybe, darlin' I can help them along.
And finally...
Seventh:
When part of the mission falls flat as it probably will:
Forgive yourself.
It's the best way to keep on going.
To dream to dream another day.
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