And common sense will tell you that in order to wipe any shit away, we must first acknowledge its existence.
Meanie the Poo differs from the famous saying of "when shit hits the fan". See, shit hits the fan when things brew wrongly and you can actually sense it coming because things have to start going pretty bad before it happens. You will have time to stop it if detected early.
Meanie the Poo, is a different ball game altogether. Usually when you least expect it and when things appear to be going fantastic. Meanie the Poo does not brew, its basically shit thrown at you - unprovoked, unpredictable and definitely uncontrollable.
Meanie the Poo comes in the many forms. It could be your friend, your spouse, a family member, even your boss. It's usually a single effort and usually at close proximity with lethal accuracy making it futile to duck. That is why it stinks the most and sticks the longest as well.
We're talking about an in your face, direct hit. And because it comes from someone close, the impact shocks you, leaving you confused. It's also the reason why many people stay with partners who are emotional bullies. The longer you stay in company with Meanie the Poo the deeper you'll be in it until one day you're so covered with honey coated shit you don't even recognise yourself anymore.
When you release yourself from the grasps of Meanie the Poo, you often remain in a state of denial. You back rationalise everything, make excuses or straight up deny it ever happened because:
1. your Meanie the Poo is someone close that you care about
2. when you care for your Meanie the Poo, they become important to you and therefore you try to keep them close, usually by keeping them happy
3. to keep them happy, you close an eye on the occasional shit they initially throw at you
4. when you finally acknowledge that they have been continuously raining shit on you, you realise it's not you, it's them! This acknowledgement affirms that you were wrong about them and that they ain't that great a person after all for going all psycho diarrhea on you and let's face it, no body wants to be wrong.
So you stay in denial and let the shit dry up on your face.
I've met many Meanie the Poos in my life time. Some more harmful than others. The ones I regret most are the ones I fail to acknowledge and clean up before I began my chapter in this business.
After over a year in the business, I hear a very confusing statement "Your group is not at it's fullest potential because you have not accepted the fact that you are in this business"
How can this be?
I left my then best paying job to date, just as I was peaking. Started from ground zero again. Braved all odds. Stuck to it till it meant something. And yet I wasn't accepting it?
Apparently so.
And it's not as simple as going on stage and announcing to the world "look guys, this is what I'm doing from now on". It's about saying it with full conviction, no reservations. If you say it and winced for impact, it doesn't count. If you whisper it, it doesn't count. If you have to take and hold your breath when you say it, it doesn't count. It only counts when you can say it bluntly with no apologies to someone who absolutely thinks this industry sucks, let alone the super successful mega rich friend because you know that, with high respect to their personal achievements thus far, this is one platform that can truly give them what they are missing - be it more money, or more time, or a more fullfilling life of enriching others, or simply to retire in style.
To be honest, I have winced, I have whispered and I have definitely held my breath. But that's ok. After all, it's not the most glamourous of industries at surface value. But after knowing what it can give me, I rather that than entering agency life when I was younger thinking that it was glamourous only to realise there is nothing glamourous about carrying a portfolio bag under the hot sun to get shot by the client who rejects work that doesn't have his favourite shade of blue or the client who spends hours hammering just because the white on their spot colour print ad is not "white-enough".
To be honest, many great leaders have winced, whispered and held their breath too. But my journey today is not reflecting how I have delivered the message with confidence. It is WHY have I not been able to continuously do so even after knowing awesome facts like the company behind me has the highest number of USD Millionaires ever created by any single organisation. I may not wince or whisper or hold my breath anymore but I can always learn to deliver with more excitement.
Acceptance is key. Without acceptance, I have not even begun my journey in this business. If you have decided that something you're doing in life is worthwhile and shows signs of hope for a better tomorrow, how do you expect to receive its full reward when you don't even accept it completely for what it is to begin with? - y'know what i mean?
My journey of acceptance started this morning by first cleaning away layers of hard dried shit in my life. Each pedal was done with purpose. Each downward stroke a closure of negative preconception flung at me that I've nurtured in the past. Each upward stroke a planted seed of hope. Every rotation, a new me.
Vooo! There goes the feeling of always needing approval
Whoosh! My values are strong enough to stand on their own
Vooo! There goes paranoia of what people thought of me
Whoosh! I am important. I have people who trust me. I will not let them down.
And this went on for 45 minutes and I ended with a great sense of self-empowerment.
I'm not sure if I'm squeaky clean for rediscovery. There may still be some shit left that were too hard to remove in one day. But that's ok, I'll get those tomorrow and will continue till they all disappear.
More importantly this morning, I learned that sometimes Meanie the Poo throws the entire jar of honey coated shit square in your face when you weren't looking and knocks you out cold. It's not about how hard you fell backwards on impact, or how much shit you're covered in, it's about what do you once you've regain consciousness and that empty jar is in your hands.
Well, I say,
Don't get angry. Get even.
**********************************************
Senn would like to send a personal message to all the Meanie the Poos in her life:
Whether you truly believed your actions were for my benefit and you really cared or actually knew, as well as I do now, that they were basically honey coated shit to make you feel superior over me, I forgive you.
And I thank you.
Because you truly believed in the greater good of making me feel small, you have made me bigger, better, stronger.
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