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Vocation
Feelings of Inadequacy
A sign found above an
office desk read
“We
the unwilling
led by the unqualified
have been doing
the unbelievable for so long with so little
that we now attempt the impossible
with nothing.” ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Problems
The story has been told of
a bricklayer who was hurt on the job and sent the following letter to his boss
requesting sick leave:
“I arrived at the job after
the storm
checked the building out and saw that the top needed repairs. I
rigged a hoist and a boom
attached the rope to a barrel and pulled bricks to
the top. When I pulled the barrel to the top
I secured the rope at the bottom.
After repairing the building
I went back to fill the barrel with the leftover bricks.
I went down and released the rope to lower the bricks
and the barrel was
heavier than I and jerked me off the ground. I decided to hang on. Halfway up
I met the barrel coming down and received a blow to the shoulder. I hung on and
went to the top
where I hit my head on the boom and caught my fingers in the
pullery. In the meantime
the barrel hit the ground and burst open
throwing
bricks all over. This made the barrel lighter than I
and I started down at
high speed. Halfway down
I met the barrel coming up and received a blow to my
shins. I continued down and fell on the bricks
receiving cuts and bruises. At
this time I must have lost my presence of mind
because I let go of the rope
and the barrel came down and hit me on the head. I respectfully request sick
leave. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Experience
It has been said that there
is not a man or woman alive who could not retire comfortably in their old age
if they could sell their experience for what it cost them. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Experience
A useful axe must be sharp
but to have a sharp axe you must be willing to allow it to suffer loss on the
grindstone. In a similar way
if you want to live a life that is useful in
service to God
you must be willing to allow him to put you on the grindstone
of trials and testings so that you may be made sharp through loss. ── Michael
P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Work
Employees in a Detroit business office
found the following important notice on the bulletin board: “The management
regrets that it has come to their attention that workers dying on the job are
failing to fall down. This practice must stop
as it becomes impossible to
distinguish between death and the natural movement of the staff. Any employee
found dead in an upright position will be dropped from the payroll.” ── Michael
P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Work
A student staying in the home of an
elderly couple greatly admired their fine antique pendulum clock
which had
been handed down from one generation to the next in the husband’s family. One
day the old man said
“That clock has a message to tell.”
Puzzled
the student asked
“What
message?” The old man replied
“Look at the pendulum going back and forth
as
if to say
‘Slow-down-do-it-right.’ But then listen to the electric clock:
‘Hurry-up-get-it-done. Who-cares-how-it’s-done.’” ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Experience
Experience is a wonderful
thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again. ── Michael
P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical Preaching》
Our labor for the Lord is:
1) a labor of love (I Thes 1:3). 2) a labor not in vain (I Cor 15:58). 3) a
labor known by Christ (Rev 2:2). 4) a labor God does not forget (Heb 6:10). 5)
a labor which is to be done together (I Cor 3:9). 6) a labor for eternal things
(Col 1:28-9). 7) a labor which is to reward (I Cor 3:8). 8) a labor done to be
accepted by Him (II Cor 5:9). 9) a labor which doesn't have an end (Luke
10:2). ── Glen Pierpoint.
In the eleventh century
King Henry III of Bavaria grew tired of court life and the pressures of being a
monarch. He made application to Prior Richard at as local monastery
asking to
be accepted as a contemplative and spend the rest of his life in the monastery.
"Your Majesty
" said Prior Richard
"do you understand that the
pledge here is one of obedience? That will be hard because you have been a
king." "I understand
" said Henry
"The rest of my life I
will be obedient to you
as Christ leads you." "Then I will tell you
what to do
" said Prior Richard. "Go back to your throne and serve
faithfully in the place where God has put you."
When King Henry died
a
statement was written: "The King learned to rule by being obedient."
When we tire of our roles and responsibilities
it helps to remember God has
planted us in a certain place and told us to be a good accountant or teacher or
mother or father. Christ expects us to be faithful where he puts us
and when
he returns
we'll rule together with him.
Steve Brown.
"The hardest thing
about milking cows
" observed a farmer
" is that they never stay
milked."
Bits & Pieces
August 18
1994
Page 3.
If you're into
bumper-sticker philosophy
you've probably seen the axiom
"I owe
I owe
so off to work I go." For a vast portion of the workforce
that's the best
reason they can muster for going to the job each day. According to one poll
only 43 percent of American office workers are satisfied with their jobs. In
Japan
the figure dips to 17 percent. In the first century
Christian slaves
had even less reason to be enthusiastic about their work. But Paul gave them a
way to grasp a glimpse of glory amid the grind. He wanted them to "adorn
the doctrine of God
" that is
to show the beauty of their faith in Christ
by how they work (Ti. 2:10).
A significant and often
overlooked way that we serve God is in our everyday tasks. Martin Luther
understood this when he wrote
"The maid who sweeps her kitchen is doing
the will of God just as much as the monk who prays -- not because she may sing
a Christian hymn as she sweeps but because God loves clean floors. The
Christian shoemaker does his Christian duty not by putting little crosses on
the shoes
but by making good shoes
because God is interested in good
craftsmanship."
Our Daily Bread
September 5
1994.
Do you ever feel
overworked
over-regulated
under-leisured
under-benefited? Take heart. This
notice was found in the ruins of a London office building. It was dated 1852.
1. This firm has reduced
the hours of work
and the clerical staff will now only have to be present
between the hours of 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. weekdays.
2. Clothing must be of a
sober nature. The clerical staff will not disport themselves in raiment of
bright colors
nor will they wear hose unless in good repair.
3. Overshoes and topcoats
may not be worn in the office
but neck scarves and headwear may be worn in
inclement weather.
4. A stove is provided for
the benefit of the clerical staff. Coal and wood must be kept in the locker. It
is recommended that each member of the clerical staff bring four pounds of coal
each day during the cold weather.
5. No member of the
clerical staff may leave the room without permission from the supervisor.
6. No talking is allowed
during business hours.
7. The craving for
tobacco
wine
or spirits is a human weakness
and as such is forbidden to all
members of the clerical staff.
8. Now that the hours of
business have been drastically reduced
the partaking of food is allowed
between 11:30 and noon
but work will not on any account cease.
9. Members of the clerical
staff will provide their own pens. A new sharpener is available on application
to the supervisor.
10. The supervisor will
nominate a senior clerk to be responsible for the cleanliness of the main
office and the private office. All boys and juniors will report to him 40
minutes before prayers and will remain after closing hours for similar work.
Brushes
brooms
scrubber
and soap are provided by the owners.
11. The owners recognize
the generosity of the new labor laws
but will expect a great rise in output of
work to compensate for these near Utopian conditions.
Bits & Pieces
May 26
1994
Page 13-15.
A manager and a sales rep
stood looking at a map on which colored pins indicated the company
representative in each area. "I'm not going to fire you
Wilson
" the
manager said
"but I'm loosening your pin a bit just to emphasize the
insecurity of your situation."
Bits & Pieces
May 26
1994
Page 9.
WORK - COLOSSIANS 3:17
"Do all in the name
of the Lord Jesus" (Col. 3:17).
When I was a boy
I felt
it was both a duty and a privilege to help my widowed mother make ends meet by
finding employment in vacation time
on Saturdays and other times when I did
not have to be in school. For quite a while I worked for a Scottish shoemaker
or "cobbler
" as he preferred to be called
an Orkney man
named Dan
Mackay. He was a forthright Christian and his little shop was a real testimony
for Christ in the neighborhood. The walls were literally covered with Bible
texts and pictures
generally taken from old-fashioned Scripture Sheet
Almanacs
so that look where one would
he found the Word of God staring him in
the face. There were John 3:16 and John 5:24
Romans 10:9
and many more.
On the little counter in
front of the bench on which the owner of the shop sat
was a Bible
generally
open
and a pile of gospel tracts. No package went out of that shop without a
printed message wrapped inside. And whenever opportunity offered
the customers
were spoken to kindly and tactfully about the importance of being born again
and the blessedness of knowing that the soul is saved through faith in Christ.
Many came back to ask for more literature or to inquire more particularly as to
how they might find peace with God
with the blessed results that men and women
were saved
frequently right in the shoe shop.
It was my chief
responsibility to pound leather for shoe soles. A piece of cowhide would be cut
to suite
then soaked in water. I had a flat piece of iron over my knees and
with a flat-headed hammer
I pounded these soles until they were hard and dry.
It seemed an endless operation to me
and I wearied of it many times.
What made my task worse
was the fact that
a block away
there was another shop that I passed going and
coming to or from my home
and in it sat a jolly
godless cobbler who gathered
the boys of the neighborhood about him and regaled them with lewd tales that
made him dreaded by respectable parents as a menace to the community. Yet
somehow
he seemed to thrive and that perhaps to a greater extent than my
employer
Mackay. As I looked in his window
I often noticed that he never
pounded the soles at all
but took them from the water
nailed them on
damp as
they were
and with the water splashing from them as he drove each nail in.
One day I ventured inside
something I had been warned never to do. Timidly
I said
"I notice you
put the soles on while still wet. Are they just as good as if they were
pounded?" He gave me a wicked leer as he answered
"They come back
all the quicker this way
my boy!"
"Feeling I had
learned something
I related the instance to my boss and suggested that I was
perhaps wasting time in drying out the leather so carefully. Mr. Mackay stopped
his work and opened his Bible to the passage that reads
"Whatsoever ye
do
do all to the glory of god."
"Harry
" he
said
"I do not cobble shoes just for the four bits and six bits (50c or
75c) that I get from my customers. I am doing this for the glory of God. I
expect to see every shoe I have ever repaired in a big pile at the judgment
seat of Christ
and I do not want the Lord to say to me in that day
'Dan
this
was a poor job. You did not do your best here.' I want Him to be able to say
'Well done
good and faithful servant.'"
Then he went on to explain
that just as some men are called to preach
so he was called to fix shoes
and
that only as he did this well would his testimony count for God. It was a
lesson I have never been able to forget. Often when I have been tempted to carelessness
and to slipshod effort
I have thought of dear
devoted Dan Mackay
and it has
stirred me up to seek to do all as for Him who died to redeem me.
H. A. Ironside
Illustrations
of Bible Truth
Moody Press
1945
pp. 37-39.
The 5 Stages of a Project
Stage 1: Excitement
euphoria
Stage 2: Disenchantment
Stage 3: Search for the
guilty
Stage 4: Punishment of the
innocent
Stage 5: Distinction for
the uninvolved
MSC Health Action News
April
1993.
Nine workplace attitudes
bosses hate:
NMJ--not my job
NMM--Need more money
WCT--Wastes company time
PPP--Promises
promises
promises
NMH--Needs more help
ACD--Always complaining
and disagreeable
CWS--Clock watcher's
syndrome
TTM--The trouble maker
SRM--Supports rumor mill
Spokesman Review
March 18
1993.
Architect Frank Lloyd
Wright once told of an incident that may have seemed insignificant at the time
but had a profound influence on the rest of his life. The winter he was 9
he
went walking across a snow-covered field with his reserved
no-nonsense uncle.
As the two of them reached the far end of the field
his uncle stopped him. He
pointed out his own tracks in the snow
straight and true as an arrow's flight
and then young Frank's tracks meandering all over the field.
"Notice how your
tracks wander aimlessly from the fence to the cattle to the woods and back
again
" his uncle said. "And see how my tracks aim directly to my
goal. There is an important lesson in that."
Years later the
world-famous architect liked to tell how this experience had greatly
contributed to his philosophy in life. "I determined right
then
" he'd say with a twinkle in his eye
"not to miss most things
in life
as my uncle had."
Focus on the Family letter
September
1992
Page 14.
Average number of jobs an
American worker has held by age 40: 8
Charis Conn (Ed.)
What
Counts: The Complete Harper's Index.
Women who never have
children enjoy the equivalent of an extra three months a year in leisure time
says Susan Lang
author of Women Without Children. If that figure seems high
remember that the average mother spends 3.5 more hours a week doing housework
than would a woman without children
plus 11 hours a week on child-related
activities. This adds up to an additional 754 hours of work every year--the
equivalent of three months of 12-hour
5-day work weeks.
Signs of the Times
May 1992
p.
6.
When the company founded
by Andrew Carnegie was taken over by the U.S. Steel Corporation in 1901 it
acquired as one of its obligations a contract to pay the top Carnegie executive
Charles M. Schwab
the then unheard of minimum sum of $1
000
000. J.P. Morgan
of U.S. Steel was in a quandary about it. The highest salary on record was then
$100
000. He met with Schwab
showed him the contract and hesitatingly asked
what could be done about it.
"This
" said
Schwab
as he took the contract and tore it up. That contract had paid
Schwab $1
300
000 the year before. "I didn't care what salary they paid
me
" Schwab later told a Forbes magazine interviewer. "I was not animated
by money motives. I believed in what I was trying to do and I wanted to see it
brought about. I cancelled that contract without a moment's hesitation. Why do
I work? I work for just the pleasure I find in work
the satisfaction there is
in developing things
in creating. Also
the associations business begets. The
person who does not work for the love of work
but only for money
is not
likely to make money nor to find much fun in life."
Bits and Pieces
May
1991
p.
2.
The work of a Beethoven
and the work of a charwoman
become spiritual on precisely the same condition
that of being offered to God
of being done humbly "as to the Lord."
This does not
of course
mean that it is for anyone a mere toss-up whether he
should sweep rooms or compose symphonies. A mole must dig to the glory of God
and a cock must crow.
C.S. Lewis
The Weight
of Glory.
There are three kinds of
workers. For example
when a piano is to be moved
the first kind gets behind
and pushes
the second pulls and guides
and the third grabs the piano
stool.
Source Unknown.
The first governor-general
of Australia was a man by the name of Lord Hopetoun. One of his most cherished
possessions was a 300 year old ledger he had inherited from John Hope
one of
his ancestors. Hope had owned a business in Edinburgh
where he first used this
old ledger. When Lord Hopetoun received it
he noticed that it had inscribed on
its front page this prayer
"O Lord
keep me and this book honest!"
Source Unknown.
A retired friend became
interested in the construction of an addition to a shopping mall. Observing the
activity regularly
he was especially impressed by the conscientious operator
of a large piece of equipment. The day finally came when my friend had a chance
to tell this man how much he'd enjoyed watching his scrupulous work. Looking
astonished
the operator replied
"You're not the supervisor?"
Howard A. Stein in Reader's
Digest.
When given a choice of two
different career paths
78% of men and women surveyed opted for flexible
full-time hours with more time left over for family pursuits and slower
on-the-job advancement.
. . only 13% decided on
the traditional work ethic--inflexible hours and a faster climb up the
career-success ladder.
Robert Half
in
Homemade
June
1990.
The average employee
spends 14.9 minutes a day making personal phone calls. On an annual basis that
adds up to 62 hours--a work week and a half.
1989
Success.
Percentage of middle-level
executives who spend 50 or more hours per week on their jobs: 77 Who spend 60
or more hours each week: 26.
Roper Organization for U.S.
News & World Report
1/16/89.
My grandfather once told
me that there are two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take
the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was less
competition there.
Indira Gandhi
Bits and
Pieces
April 1990
p. 11.
Each day across the USA
50
000 people quit their jobs. In a recent survey of workers across the USA
nearly 85% said that they could work harder of the job. More than half claimed
they could double their effectiveness "if (they) wanted to."
Managing the Equity Factor
R Huseman
J
Hatfield
1989.
In an elevator
"I
don't know what makes the boss tick
but I sure know what makes him explode."
Orben's Current Comedy.
About six years ago
I was
speaking at a luncheon held in the civic auditorium of a city in Oklahoma. I
settled myself at my place at the head table. I picked up my fork and noticed
that two rose-petaled radishes adorned my salad plate. Someone had take the
time to pretty up two radishes
just for me. Then I noticed that each salad at
the head table had two neatly curled radishes. I turned to the lady sitting to
my right. "I'm impressed by the radishes
" I said. "You're impressed
by what?" she asked. "The radishes
" I said. "Look
each
salad plate at our table has curled radishes." "Yes
" she said
exercising a questioning smile. "They're pretty." "They're more
than pretty
" I said. Someone took special care to do these."
"Don't they all have them?" she asked
gazing out at the tables. I
looked and was astonished. Each salad plate was adorned with two curled
radishes! "They are curled! That took a lot of time!" "I'm not
on the planning committee
but Gertrude is
" my table mate responded. She
turned to get the attention of Gertrude
three chairs down. "Mrs. George
wants to ask you something about the radishes
"she whispered. "The
what?" Gertrude mouthed "The RA- DI-SHES!" "Is there something
wrong with your radishes?" she asked. "No. They are fine. I just
thought it was nice to have them all curled." "Oh
Marietta does
those." "All of them?" I knew the head count in the room and was
astonished. "That's almost eight hundred radishes!" "Yes
but
Marietta wants to do it. Would you like to meet her? She's in the
kitchen." So Gertrude and I went into the kitchen
and there I met
Marietta
the lady of the radishes. "Gertrude tells me you curled all
those radishes. They're lovely. Each salad looks so...festive." "I
don't mind doing it. It just takes time
" Marietta replied. I didn't know
what more to say so I left.
Later
I spoke
and there was an encouraging response. Afterward
ladies scurried past
me with murmured greetings
and a few lingered to speak of God in their lives.
When we finished
it was raining heavily so we hurried across the parking lot
to the car. Through the rain
I could see a lady
carrying a large polka-dot
umbrella that had collapsed on one side waiting by our car. It was Marietta!
She was smiling as though we had found her on a sunny day in an especially
delightful garden. "I had to see you. I heard your speech. It was
good!" she said. "I have to go home now."
I slipped
inside the car. Marietta crouched down close to the window and called to me
"Just remember this. You keep telling people about Jesus
and I'll keep
curling the radishes." The rain and my tears splattered the picture of her
face as we started to back out of the driveway. Ah
dear Marietta
I haven't
forgotten. We are to do our jobs in the love of him who does all things
well.
Jeanette Clift George
Travel
Tips From A Reluctant Traveler
1987.
There is nothing boring in
life except ourselves. The most humble work does not have to be boring. I
remember Madame Duval
the old woman who cleaned the floor in my place in
Gargenville. I think of her with profound respect and reverence. She was 80
years old. One day she knocked at my door and said
"Mademoiselle
I know
you don't like to be disturbed
but the floor
come and see it; it shines!"
In my mind
Stravinsky and Madame Duval will appear before the Lord for the
same reason. Each had done what he does with all his consciousness. When I said
this to Stravinsky
who knew Madame Duval
he said
"How you flatter me
for when I do something
I have something to gain. But she
she has only the
work to be well done."
Nadia Boulanger
pianist
and teacher
in Wisdom for our Time
edited by James Nelson (Norton).
God gives the birds their
food
but He doesn't throw it into their nests.
Traditional.
I never like to drink
coffee on the job because then I toss and turn at my desk all day.
Gladys Coudy
quoted by
Matt Weinstock in Los Angeles Times.
Time theft--deliberate
waste and abuse of company time costs the U.S. economy over $120 billion a
year. This loss is three times more than it is for recognized business crime.
At some companies 20-40% of employee time is stolen. Office employees are 30%
worse than blue-collar workers
perhaps because supervision isn't as close.
Workers under 30 are the biggest offenders. Watch out for executives who set
bad examples. If the boss is a time thief
employees will be too.
Creative Management
in Homemade
May
1985.
The evidence is convincing
that the better our relationships are at home
the more effective we are in our
careers. If we're having difficulty with a loved one
that difficulty will be
translated into reduced performance on the job. In studying the millionaires in
America (U.S. News and World Report)
a picture of the "typical" millionaire
is an individual who has worked eight to ten hours a day for thirty years and
is still married to his or her high school or college sweetheart. A New York
executive search firm
in a study of 1365 corporate vice presidents
discovered
that 87% were still married to their one and only spouse and that 92% were
raised in two-parent families.
The evidence is
overwhelming that the family is the strength and foundation of society.
Strengthen your family ties and you'll enhance your opportunity to succeed.
Zig Ziglar in Homemade
March 1989.
The sign in the store
window read: NO HELP WANTED. As two men passed by
one said to the other
"You should apply--you'd be great."
Principles regarding work
Decision-making and the Will of God
p. 336.
One researcher has
estimated that 50-80% of working Americans are in a job that does not match
their abilities and is therefore unfulfilling. That may well be the force
behind the statistic that the average worker will change careers two or three
times before retirement.
Cynthia Spence in Homemade
May
1989.
How common is employee
dishonesty? According to one recent survey: Falsifying time sheets was admitted
by 5.8% of workers. Stealing merchandise was admitted by 6.6%. Among people
working in retail stores
57% said they abused their employee-discount
privileges.
Dr. John Clark
in
Homemade
Nov
1985.
Dr. J.B. Gambrel tells an
amusing story from General Stonewall Jackson's famous valley campaign.
Jackson's army found itself on one side of a river when it needed to be on the
other side. After telling his engineers to plan and build a bridge so the
army could cross
he called his wagon master in to tell him that it was urgent
the wagon train cross the river as soon as possible. The wagon master started
gathering all the logs
rocks and fence rails he could find and built a bridge.
Long before day light General Jackson was told by his wagon master all the
wagons and artillery had crossed the river. General Jackson asked where are the
engineers and what are they doing? The wagon master's only reply was that they
were in their tent drawing up plans for a bridge.
Pulpit Helps
May
1991.
Dear Ann Landers:
Americans have placed too much importance on material wealth and "getting
somewhere
" and it is taking its toll on relationships. Something has to
give. I wrote a little fairy tale about this subject
based on my own life.
Maybe your readers will enjoy it.
The Man Who Couldn't Stop
Working
Once upon a time
there
was a bright young man who decided to become rich and successful. So he studied
very hard in college
got an M.B.A.
and went to work in a prestigious firm.
Since most successful
businessmen in the land had beautiful wives
he went out and got himself one.
He bought his "Christina" a lovely home in the suburbs. In return for
beautiful clothes and elegant jewels
she was a dutiful wife who devoted
herself to their children. She never saw much of her rich
successful husband
who worked long hours and stayed out late at night
sharing wine and expensive
meals with potential clients in order to cultivate good connections. There were
rumors that he was seen dining with attractive women in the business world.
Meanwhile
Christina was
growing more lonely and disconnected. One day
after looking at the emptiness
of her life
she decided to go back to college and have a career. After
watching her husband
she knew she didn't want to be rich and successful. She
was hungry for something much deeper and more meaningful.
Something in Christina
awakened as she gained new knowledge. And lo and behold
one day in class
her
eyes locked with those of a handsome man who was also looking for something
that would give more meaning to his life. He was tired of the demands of the
business world
and like our heroine
he wanted something deeper.
After a year of
contemplation
Christina divorced her husband (who to this day remains baffled
but busy) and married the nice man in her class. He became a good stepfather to
her children
who were delighted to have a man to spend time with
and he
always came home from work in time for a family dinner. They weren't rich
but
they lived happily every after. The End. --A Faithful Reader in Michigan
Dear Michigan: That's no
fairy tale
honey
it's art imitating life.
Spokesman Review
July 3
1993
Page E2.
The "Coronary and
Ulcer Club" lists the following rules
for members...
1. Your job comes first.
Forget everything else.
2. Saturdays
Sundays
and
holidays are fine times to be working at the office. There will be nobody else
there to bother you.
3. Always have your
briefcase with you when not at your desk. This provides an opportunity to
review completely all the troubles and worries of the day.
4. Never say
"no" to a request. Always say "yes."
5. Accept all invitations
to meetings
banquets
committees
etc.
6. All forms of recreation
are a waste of time.
7. Never delegate
responsibility to others; carry the entire load yourself.
8. If your work calls for
traveling
work all day and travel at night to keep that appointment you made
for eight the next morning.
9. No matter how many jobs
you already are doing
remember you always can take on more.
Bits & Pieces
January 7
1993
Page 9-10.
Tom Peters is the
co-author of two of the most widely read books on the subject of work in the
twentieth century. His second book
A Passion for Excellence
sets forth the
mandates for excellence in the work arena. He's emphatic about the need for
prioritizing the customer
backing up your product with thorough service
and
working from the strength of integrity. He draws his discussion of excellence
to a conclusion by talking about its cost. An honest but alarming statement
appears in the last page of the last chapter of the book.
We are frequently asked if
it is possible to "have it all" -- a full and satisfying personal
life and a full and satisfying
hard-working professional one. Our answer is:
No. The price of excellence is time
energy
attention and focus
at the very
same time that energy
attention and focus could have gone toward enjoying your
daughter's soccer game. Excellence is a high cost item.
As David Ogilvy observed
in Confessions of an Advertising Man: "If you prefer to spend all your
spare time growing roses or playing with your children
I like you better
but
do not complain that you are not being promoted fast enough."
Tim Kimmel
Little
House on the Freeway
Page 187.
Douglas MacArthur II
nephew of the famous WWII General
served in the state department when John
Foster Dulles was Secretary of State. One evening Mr. Dulles called MacArthur
at his home. His wife answered the phone and explained that her husband was not
there. Not recognizing who the caller was
she angrily complained
"MacArthur is where MacArthur always is
weekdays
Saturdays
Sundays
and
nights--in that office!" Within minutes Dulles had MacArthur on the phone.
He gave him this terse order: "Go home at once
Boy. Your home front
is crumbling!"
Source Unknown.
Drive thy business
let
not that drive thee.
Benjamin Franklin.
Sign seen in a
workaholic's office: "Thank God it's Monday."
Superman Committed
Suicide
The Rest of the Story
p. 54.
My candle burns at both
its ends
it will not last the
night.
But ah
my foes
and ah
my friends
it gives a wondrous light.
Source Unknown.
A first grader became
curious because her father brought home a briefcase full of papers every
evening. Her mother explained
"Daddy has so much to do that he can't
finish it all at the office. That's why he has to bring work home at
night."
"Well then
"
asked the child innocently
"why don't they put him in a slower
group?"
C. Swindoll
Growing
Strong
p. 213.