She was lured in with an overwhelming sense of security called health insurance, only to be shackled softly by a 100% vested retirement fund and 401K plan. She settled in very nicely, ambitious, young and eager. This 20 year old, married, high school graduate, had one year of junior college under her belt. Feeling somewhat like a loser for bailing out on her “so called” higher education she figured she had nothing to lose. She emerged herself into the entry level job at this corporation that manufactured hard goods. She was smart and industrious. She made this job her own kind of college, learning and testing herself.
The Good… The Bad… The Ugly…
We leap into life, innocent and fragile, needing security. We’re eager to learn. Our brains are like little sponges absorbing everything. We’re naturally curious and trusting, by design. It’s the gift of risk. We venture out of the nest. Some of us nudged out sooner and more aggressively than others, confronted with varying levels of good, bad and ugly. One handed the tool of a spoon and another the tool of a sword. One survives the neglect of over indulgence , the other pure neglect and trauma.
Tool (verb) – To travel in a vehicle; to ride or drive.
Tool (noun) – Any instrument of use or service.
Tool (noun) – A weapon.
Tool (noun;person) – A person used as an instrument by another person.
The WHY
19 years later that 20 year old young lady was at the top of of her middle management game. She was exhausted and unfulfilled. The corporation’s WHY had slowly revealed itself to her. It threatened to hardened her naive , curious nature. Her WHY had faded and she perhaps was forever jaded. Within the confines this community, call a corporate company, the battles of the WHY’s raged. There were plenty of good people who cared about putting integrity into HOW they achieved the WHY’s. Some were even caring mentors. Would she seize those mentoring moments offered to her by a few male leaders within the organization? (Where were the mentoring lady leaders? Stay tuned for an upcoming post.) Rarely is anything pure evil, even within the realm of the ultimate WHY, which could be translated as greed. Why again had she stayed for 20 years? Its a great company. 6 weeks of vacation had been accumulated. The retirement and benefit plan was very generous. A golden spoon, almost too good to be true. It was not feeding her soul, that “golden” spoon.
Your Tool B*a*g (believe act go) is Packed
We’ve come a long way to get where we’re at now. Yes, I’m talking to you and we’re here together. Looking back we can hardly believe the things we’ve seen, done and endured. The good, the bad, the ugly AND the amazing. Rarely is anything pure evil. “Oh no!” The alarm has sounded again. No time to pack. We’re in the boot camp of life and we’ve been called yet again to survive and thrive. Ok McGyvers and you mothers of amazing invention, let’s see what you’ve got in that tool bag. Maybe a sword. Maybe a spoon. Maybe unrecognizeable pieces, yet to be pieced together.
Muda
Not using the knowledge, inspiration and tools she gained during the last 22 years for the greater good would be such a waste. She realizes she has packed a nice tool b*a*g filled with tools that could be re-purposed to manufacture joy. One little tidbit she learned was that in order to manufacture high quality products, one must learn to identify and eliminate waste. MUDA is waste in Japanese. Pretend you’re a Japanese warrior, stout and expressionless. Your mission is to eliminate MUDA. How would the warrior say it? Say it that way, “MUDA NO More!” I see you draw your spoon. I see you draw your sword.
A Warrior
Identify the Muda (Translated for the use of manufacturing joy)
- Waste of busyness – Filling our days with urgent, less important tasks. The fear of our own greatness keeps us from doing the important things for ourselves and our personal mission. Let the dishes go and take an inventory of the tools in your bag.
- Waste of being paralyzed by fear – The fear mounts on top of itself as we wait. As we wait the most precious possession is being wasted, time. Small changes = Big benefits. Take a small step today.
- Waste of running - Running from one location to another trying to out run our fears and demons. Find a safe place and sit with your fear. Identify it. Find support.
- Waste of continuously rerunning negative thought patterns through our heads - Get the cart before the horse. You are a Japanese warrior. Draw your sword and proclaim your new role.
- Waste of too much stuff- Filling the black hole of infinite emptiness of your pain. Remove the sword. Heal the wound.
- Waste of producing defective goods – You can stop the cycle of abuse!
- The biggest waste is doing nothing.
Call to Action
Think about the tools you have accumulated during the boot camp of life. Review the definitions above. Tools include your travels, instruments, weapons and people. What are you carrying around in your tool bag that is weighing down your travels and making it more difficult to get to the useful tools. For ladies, a good exercise is to empty the contents of your purse and take an inventory as if they were your tools. How do the items relate to the wastes listed above? Perhaps you need to pick up some new tools and stock them in your bag. I carry Advil in my purse. It represents my back pain, which could be better if I would eliminate some of my busyness and do more exercises. I am worthy enough to be pain free.
Joy is an assembly of many simple parts. We must find the tools to put them together. We already posses some tools. Be creative. Re-purpose what you already carry in your tool bag. Seek new tools when necessary. Share your tools. You are a powerful instrument.
