David Cain made a post today on Raptitude.com that really struck with me:
She said that for years, a colleague of hers (Peter Gzowski?) insisted on making frequent trips to a remote cabin up North, where he spent the time chopping wood, reading books and walking with his dogs. When she asked him why this ritual was so important to him, he said, “Well… I guess I really like who I am when I’m up there.”
Rodgers explained her departure by saying that the morning show had made the reverse true for her: the job required her to wake up at 3:30am, shuttle herself to the studio, and force herself into professional-mode hours before the sun came up, and she didn’t like who she was when she was doing that.
When I heard her say that, I was sitting in my office at work, and realized I that definitely didn’t like who I was when I was in there. I didn’t like who I was when I was on the phone with clients, or out talking to contractors, or sitting at pre-construction meetings. (read it all, here)
Like Shelagh and David, there was a time when I too could sit a desk and not just be displeased with a situation, but be displeased with who I was. I didn’t like who I was when I cold called for hours on end. I didn’t like who I was when I had to make excuses or explain my job-poorly done.
But now I really like who I am most of my minutes every day, and I just wanted to share a little list. I like who I am when I…
- … offer nerdy after-thoughts when announcing the answer at trivia.
- … help a WordPress user learn something new.
- … make breakfast for my wife.
- … roll a natural 20.
- … roll a natural 1.
- … finish a book I’ve been reading so very slowly for a long time.
- … walk my dog until she’s so tired she sleeps for hours.
- … ride my bike with no route in mind.
- … ride my bike with 50 pounds of groceries in tow.
- … ride my bike at all.
- … know that I’m on working on the best possible thing I can be working on right then and there.
- … talk things out with my wife.
- … solve a problem that could never have been solved in another time of my life.
- … think about my future.
- … when I (edit) typos in my headlines. 😀
Alex Gustafson 