Thinking Out Loud, Volume, CCCXI

I had been busy, traveling a lot, and all the while the grass in my front yard was getting out of hand. It was embarrassing. Finally, on a Saturday afternoon, I found the time get out, start up my mower, and tackle the job. When the task was finished, I took a quick shower, and sat down to relax a while, but I opened the blinds just so I could look out and admire a job well done. The difference was amazing!

Another day: The faucet in the bath tub had been leaking, getting worse with each passing day. It's not that tough a job, but considering all the time it takes to go to the hardware store to buy supplies and return to make the repairs, it can take a good part of the day, so it's easy to put it off. Finally, I could wait no longer. It had to be done. When the work was completed, I turned the water back on and walked back into the bathroom to see if my efforts had been successful. Yes!! No leaks!! For the next couple days when I was walking through my house, I would step into the bathroom just to take another look at the non-leaking faucet. It was beautiful.

There's just something about being able to look back at a job well done that brings a pleasurable sense of accomplishment...a feeling that makes all the efforts worthwhile. I can get those same good feelings with my job. I'm in sales, and I recently opened a new account in Arkansas. The first time I walked into that store, they had no collegiate products whatsoever. The next time I was there, they had a very impressive Razorback section, filled with merchandise supplied by me. I didn't say it, but I was proud of myself. I'm not a school teacher, but I can imagine how it must feel to see children who can write when they didn't even know their letters before coming into my class. It has to be a good feeling for a doctor to see healthy patients who might not even be alive if it hadn't been for his or her work. There have even been times after I've completed a long run that I have driven back over the route just to get a better appreciation of the mission accomplished.

Work is rarely fun while you're actually doing it, but when you're done, if you'll just take a quick look back a task completed, you will be amazed at how good it can make you feel to be able to see that you have really made a difference. It's a feeling that lazy people don't get to experience.

Preston