Celebrate Success, Become a Flowerchild
Recently I saw some security footage on a local residence. It wasn’t just any home; it so happens it was my son and daughter in laws house. The peculiar difference with video such as this, is that unless there is some need to view it, oftentimes, no one looks at it. Though caught on camera, it typically would have remained somewhere in cyberspace, ultimately and automatically deleted, never to be seen. We could have so easily missed it, and that would have been such an unfortunate outcome.
What we caught on camera was very telling and left me with the following life lesson that has lingered in my mind til this very moment. It is well worth sharing and in hopes to leave this memory with my readers for further contemplation and hopefully, inspiration.
It was a rare segment in time that involved our toddler, and the indescribable pride and joy that only our absolutely adorable grandson is at this time in life, as my wife and I are fast approaching our 70’s. It also included a day Lilly, actually a few day lilies as well as our uncommonly beautiful daughter in law. It spanned about 15 seconds as the two of them made their way up the sidewalk approaching the front door of their home.
Bear with the specifics, the details are well worth emphasizing lest I leave some significance behind and fail to fully convey the imagery necessary for you to absorb this special event. I don’t want to spare a single detail, otherwise, I may fail to clearly communicate its significance.
The two of them held hands as she slowed to allow him to keep pace as he wobbled his way up the sidewalk through the landscape that lined the pathway toward the front door. You could hear their conversation as well. The sound was also captured which consisted of her legible words and the babbling response you would expect from a 14 month toddler, as he strung a sentence together of delightful jabber.
“Are we home?” she asked. He suddenly stopped, dead in his tracks and tugged repeatedly at her hand as he bowed almost paying homage to a Day Lilly that caught his eye. He leaned into its bloom and took a whiff and in fascination softly cooed, saying ever so clearly “oooh” in the sheer delight of its fragrance
He leaned away, as if he was ready to proceed but then suddenly leaned back in for a second sniff as if to say “let me do it again” as he continued his illegible comments. Thinking they had enough, they took another step and continued down the path as she inquired “you like that, huh?” Without even a reply, another Lilly, just steps away, caught his eye. He awkwardly repeated the whole process. She chuckled with a maternal giggle, in sheer delight.
Now, for those of you who may not know, the thing Day Lilly’s really do only look and smell their best for a single day. Having passed them by, was nothing short of a missed opportunity. This very afternoon was one special moment of a summer bloom that was certainly destined to be gone tomorrow. Without, this inquisitive childlike wisdom it would have been overlooked and quickly began to wither. The elegance of this incident would have been missed forever, and all too often, is.
Might we use this simple observation to encourage all of us businesspeople to literally stop and smell, no “strike that” repeatedly stop and smell the flowers. Let’s vow to make a habit of it. Why not simply refuse the constant distraction of the hustle bustle of life, set aside our to do lists, electronic devices and take some quality time to revel in relationships, accomplishments, all the things we have done, the goals we’ve recently achieved, the improvements we’ve made in our organizations, lives and families. Relish what works. The employees who excel. Make certain we value them in word and deed.
We spend a disproportionate amount of time focused on problems and difficulties, troublesome employees and yes, we have our fair share of managerial failures, personally and in our staff. There are, overwhelming unsolved problems that if allowed, will continually haunt us with unceasing anxiety, stress and the worries of the long list of never-ending tasks, that loom as we fall short of a level of perfection, that none of us will ever actually achieve.
However, failures are opportunities to learn and improve and must be viewed that way or our lives will be filled with constant frustration. The sad fact is, we live in a world that is chaotic and there is a sense in which sometimes, controlled chaos, is as good at it gets, at least for the time being. Allowing this to be our focus is not only unhealthy, but too often counterproductive. We cannot live in a constant mindset plagued by this mentality. Its not good for ourselves nor those we interact with, personally or professionally.
Instead, make certain to take the time to learn from this little, very young man. So that, we can all become people who, celebrate our successes. They are there, if we look for them and refuse to allow them to be eclipsed by focusing on what isn’t going well. Start now, by shifting your attention to the bright side of life as often as we can, it will provide balance and rejuvenation, not to mention, increased productivity on several levels.
Get a whiff of that, take a deep breath and take some time to relax… Let’s do both, work feverishly to improve, but couple that with a penchant for celebrating our successes. Quite simply, become a flowerchild!
