So, I've had this post written for the last couple days but couldn't come up
with a decent title til just now... but it suits the situation perfectly.
We all whine. Admit it. On occasion, when things aren't going our way or the road is steep or the work is hard... we whine. And whining, in and of itself, is not the problem.
Take the farmer with a huge rock in the middle of his grapevine garden. He knows he can make more WINE without that boulder. So he gets his shovel out and starts digging.... and digging and digging and digging. At first, it seems hard, but doable... but the longer he works, the more he realizes that that stupid rock is WAY bigger than he realized and all he can see everywhere is dirt and rock. And his shoulder starts to hurt. And his muscles are aching. AND THAT STUPID ROCK ISN"T MOVING.
Now, if as he's whining AS he's working, I have no objection (picture if you will a comment cloud above his head where he's yelling to the universe that this whole stupid situation stinks and how did this rock get here in the first place). But... if he throws his shovel in disgust, climbs out of the hole, and gives up.... then the whining serves no purpose. It's just complaining.
A smart farmer, recognizing that they can't do it alone, might go online and search for a free farming website where he talks to other farmers about what theyhave done and maybe gets some suggestions from others' experiences. And sure, he probably whines a little bit about how big his boulder seems to be and how hard it is to get it out of the ground. But those other farmers, instead of just listening to that whine, give him tools to use to help.
Maybe he even makes some friends on there...and they tell him about a plan they used or a service he can call. And sure, the rock is still there. And sure, the effort to remove it is still going to be tremendous.
But maybe instead of trying to move the WHOLE rock, what that farmer needs to learn is he has to break it down into smaller, more manageable pieces. And then one by one (ahem... ounce by ounce), get them gone. And MAYBE, just maybe, what he realizes is that even if the smallest piece comes off in a day or a week, that that is still one less piece for him to worry about.
And that, my friends, is where the cheese comes in. Because after a nice Whine, what you really need is a nice piece of cheese.
We all whine. Admit it. On occasion, when things aren't going our way or the road is steep or the work is hard... we whine. And whining, in and of itself, is not the problem.
Take the farmer with a huge rock in the middle of his grapevine garden. He knows he can make more WINE without that boulder. So he gets his shovel out and starts digging.... and digging and digging and digging. At first, it seems hard, but doable... but the longer he works, the more he realizes that that stupid rock is WAY bigger than he realized and all he can see everywhere is dirt and rock. And his shoulder starts to hurt. And his muscles are aching. AND THAT STUPID ROCK ISN"T MOVING.
Now, if as he's whining AS he's working, I have no objection (picture if you will a comment cloud above his head where he's yelling to the universe that this whole stupid situation stinks and how did this rock get here in the first place). But... if he throws his shovel in disgust, climbs out of the hole, and gives up.... then the whining serves no purpose. It's just complaining.
A smart farmer, recognizing that they can't do it alone, might go online and search for a free farming website where he talks to other farmers about what theyhave done and maybe gets some suggestions from others' experiences. And sure, he probably whines a little bit about how big his boulder seems to be and how hard it is to get it out of the ground. But those other farmers, instead of just listening to that whine, give him tools to use to help.
Maybe he even makes some friends on there...and they tell him about a plan they used or a service he can call. And sure, the rock is still there. And sure, the effort to remove it is still going to be tremendous.
But maybe instead of trying to move the WHOLE rock, what that farmer needs to learn is he has to break it down into smaller, more manageable pieces. And then one by one (ahem... ounce by ounce), get them gone. And MAYBE, just maybe, what he realizes is that even if the smallest piece comes off in a day or a week, that that is still one less piece for him to worry about.
And that, my friends, is where the cheese comes in. Because after a nice Whine, what you really need is a nice piece of cheese.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.