Monday is the head of the work week and the weekend is recess time. This is my life, like most of you, but this blog is about jumping off the swing between play and work. Yesterday was my recess by the pool. It was a sunny Sunday, and I was sitting back, reading The Art of Non-Conformity, by Chris Guillebeau. The book is one of the main things empowering me to let go of the swing. I recommend setting aside a snippet of your day for one week to have Chris realign your perception of work and life.
As I lay on my lounge chair reading, I noticed two young girls jumping into the pool. I saw one climb up on a molded plastic chair. The chair wobbled and tipped slightly as she jumped into the water. I watched the other girl start climbing up on the chair. I spoke forcefully across the pool, “You guys, that is bad idea.” They both immediately stopped what they were doing. One of them quietly said, “Ok.”
There was a couple close-by to me and the guy said, “Good going, man.” I replied, “I couldn’t help saying it. It would ruin my day to see someone wreck themselves right in front of me.”
And the two girls were in front of us all. It was a small pool, with at least five other people besides me sitting around it. Had I noticed it early? How long had no one said anything while it went on? The couple next to me had been talking, the girl not having noticed, but the guy had noticed. Another guy lying by the pool, eyes closed and headphones in his ears was unaware. And several others were on the side of the pool with the girls. One of them was on their phone, texting or surfing the internet. Why hadn’t anyone said anything?
During the week, we gather into groups, in our offices, managed by others and by our schedules. We know our responsibility and we accomplish our tasks. When we leave our offices, we are back on the playground, without our teacher. Whose job is it to supervise? We supervise ourselves. We decide when something is right or wrong and it is our responsibility to speak up.
I felt good after preventing the girls from having an accident. But I felt strange that I had been the only one to say something. I think everyone has the same sense of right and wrong. We just need to be reminded that we can express it, and take responsibility for something outside of our work description. We should not be afraid to speak out even though no one else will.
Our existence as human beings depends on it.
As I lay on my lounge chair reading, I noticed two young girls jumping into the pool. I saw one climb up on a molded plastic chair. The chair wobbled and tipped slightly as she jumped into the water. I watched the other girl start climbing up on the chair. I spoke forcefully across the pool, “You guys, that is bad idea.” They both immediately stopped what they were doing. One of them quietly said, “Ok.”
There was a couple close-by to me and the guy said, “Good going, man.” I replied, “I couldn’t help saying it. It would ruin my day to see someone wreck themselves right in front of me.”
And the two girls were in front of us all. It was a small pool, with at least five other people besides me sitting around it. Had I noticed it early? How long had no one said anything while it went on? The couple next to me had been talking, the girl not having noticed, but the guy had noticed. Another guy lying by the pool, eyes closed and headphones in his ears was unaware. And several others were on the side of the pool with the girls. One of them was on their phone, texting or surfing the internet. Why hadn’t anyone said anything?
During the week, we gather into groups, in our offices, managed by others and by our schedules. We know our responsibility and we accomplish our tasks. When we leave our offices, we are back on the playground, without our teacher. Whose job is it to supervise? We supervise ourselves. We decide when something is right or wrong and it is our responsibility to speak up.
I felt good after preventing the girls from having an accident. But I felt strange that I had been the only one to say something. I think everyone has the same sense of right and wrong. We just need to be reminded that we can express it, and take responsibility for something outside of our work description. We should not be afraid to speak out even though no one else will.
Our existence as human beings depends on it.
