It occurred to me today, while eating lunch with a friend, that I keep telling myself about these motto's that drive my life, yet, I've never really tried to put them down in writing. So, without further ado, here I go.
I've thought of several motto's that describe, at least to me, what I feel is important. Sort of like 'mantras' towards focus, but, also as method of perspective into my views. I once worked with a guy named Ken who was our email system administrator for a company that was acquired in the late '90's that was based in Chicago. I remember thinking that the ISP (we were Voyager.Net at the time, and CoreComm had just bought us as well as Megs Inet, which is where Ken worked) was just this huge company with amazing technology that was going to dwarf my knowledge base, and soon, someone management type would figure out I'm just some hack who's knowledge doesn't compare to these "new" employees, and I'd shortly be out of a job.
Ken focused his life by writing one or two word 'mantras' and posting them on a board on the wall of his cube. Words like 'sendmail', 'ospf', 'increase mail quoats', 'qmail', and other dotted this focus point for him. When asked what they were for, he merely replied to me that these 'help keep me focused on what I do on a day to day basis.' Now, I've no idea if the focus problem was either the hectic nature of the large ISP that Ken was wrapped up in or from the 6 pack of Red Bull he doused daily, but, the point of focus stuck with me.
Thinking further about Ken's system, and doing a lot of driving around in those days, I coined my first 'motto'. Now, those that know me (especially my wife) and have ridden in a car with me, know that I'm a very 'poky' driver. Elderly drivers (think of the "Where's the beef" lady from 80's Wendy's commercials) who stare through their steering wheel of their over-sized 4 door sedans and old men who haven't been able to see farther than arms reach, yet drive, would be more than proud of my snails pace at driving. After being in the fire department, I've learned that speed kills, but, the cause of my slowness started much earlier than that.
Now, I like to obey the laws of our land like any other, but, I used to like to speed when I was much younger. Owning a 4 cylinder Pontiac 6000 station wagon meant that I wasn't going to win any street races anytime soon, but, I know I did my fair share. When I was a junior in high school, my older step brother, Jeff, had a horrific incident that put life into perspective for not only him but also for me. While riding their motorcycles back from town, they both stopped at a stop light. Now Jeff used to always be on the left hand side of the lane, while his buddy would always be on the right. For some reason, at this particular light, they reversed themselves. While chatting at the red light, a semi-truck made a left-hand turn in front of them. Either rushed driving, lack of experience, or just plain oversight caused the driver to cut his turn shorter than necessary. To Jeff's horror, he watched as the rear wheels of the trailer clipped his riding companions bike and pulled him underneath crushing him to an instant death.
This humbling experience made me realize that maybe the things I thought were important to me really had a much smaller perspective in the 'global' view of life.
The motto 'Those that speed through life find themselves in an early grave' came out of the above experiences and pretty much typifies how I try to live and enjoy myself.
This comes close to another motto that I also try to live by: 'Don't put off 'till tomorrow that which can be done today.'
Another fairly recent motto addition came during a viewing of "Meet the Robinson's", a movie that neither of my two older children thought enjoyable at first viewing. One key phrase repeated throughout the movie is 'Keep moving forward.' Apparently Walt Disney used this phrase when describing his success. I believe the actual phrase was “Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
What an excellent viewpoint and another adopted motto for myself.
After spending a lot of time in the fire department, you get to see a very interesting window into peoples lives. Think about it, what other industry do you have that calls you into another persons life at a time when they really need help. The people that I see are often very vulnerable due to the events that lead them to call us for help. We walk into all sorts of homes from all income ranges and all walks of life. I see people who you'd think that have everything all together that really don't, people whom no one ever sees, yet have an amazing life.
One particular man stands out in my mind. A few years ago, we got a call down the street from my house to an 80 something man with difficulty breathing. Well, the call is about a block from my house, so I was the first one there and the first to go inside. I've seen the house a thousand times since I have to pass is at least twice a day as I travel to and from work. Never really taking note of the rather non-decrepit average ranch style burgundy home, I was amazed at what I'm about to describe. Walking into the house from the side porch to a frail voice that was beckoning me towards him in the living room, I notice a pair of slacks hanging upside down in the middle of the hall way. The rest of the house was obviously designed and decorated by a woman, yet has that smell and sort of unclean look so indicative of bachelorhood. Photos on the walls denote a happy couple seen in many different parts of the world, obviously enjoying their retirement.
The man sits in an older style wooden armchair in the living room. He is frail in voice only because of the medical condition he's experiencing... this man is no weak flea, let me tell you. After providing oxygen and getting a little more detail about his symptoms, we provide oxygen and start to treat him like we do only an ever regular basis. I usually start looking around my surroundings about this time as the conversation usually dulls down a bit as we wait for the "bus" to arrive that will transport him to the nearest hospital. I'm amazed to look at the side wall and see a ton of pictures of a B-29 superfortress with a very young looking embodiment of the figure in front of me. I ask and learn that he did two tours over Germany in World War 2, some 50+ missions in all. And, I learn, he was a turret gunner - the deadliest position often referred to as the "suicide seat" - for all of these tours! His wife died about 12 years ago from cancer, and he's lived on with the emotional support of his two children and grandchildren.
A very passionate voice about the war emerges, as I almost always try to get my patients to focus on something they like to talk about rather than worrying about their current medical predicament. He tells me more and more about the war, and then floors me with the fact that he works at the local air museum (Kalamazoo's AirZoo) as a tour guide. What a touching experience I've just had with this man, and I'm amazed at his zeal and pizazz for life. I could only wish to achieve half of what he's done.
As we load him into the waiting ambulance, I take one last moment and say "Thank you for all that you and your generation have done for us in this great country. Without you there would be no me". I'm greeted by a warm smile as the doors close.
This lead me to another phrase: "It's not what you know or do in life, its about the people and meaningful connections you make along your journey."
Working in IT, we are constantly encompassed in a very emotional and passionate environment. Anyone who has ever worked in this field can tell you just how stressful IT really can be. At times, its like being a brain surgeon in the middle of a teaching hospital with a hundred students looking on and asking questions while the patient in front of you is crashing.
Anytime a major system crashes, it always seems that repairing it turns into a spectator sport, where the viewers seem to think that constantly pestering the engineering staff will result in faster service restoration. Many of my colleagues give most if not all of their life to this field (I too have spent many a 100 hour week working to just stay afloat), and after a while I began to wonder they "why" of what we do. Sure, the pay is great, but whats the end outcome.
So, my work motto changed, as did my views about spending all my time at the office, to "these computer systems aren't going to change my Depends when I'm older" and off I go to spend time with wife and kids (the ones who I can't wait to payback for all those embarrassing bodily function incidents they've treated me too over the years).
I once heard a joke about a mechanic and a heart surgeon where the mechanic says "You and I are not that different. I can take the motor out of this vehicle, rebuild it, fix it and replace it into the patient, just like you would a heart transplant" the doctor thinks for a minute and then replies "Yeah, but try doing it while the engine is running".
So, I hope this rather lengthy explanation gives a little insight into my views on life.
jp
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