Easter Wisdoms

On my way to breakfast with a new friend, I came across a box of small stones on the pedestrian path. Each stone had a few words nearly written…one wrote, be curious, not judgmental. The other wrote, ‘turn your wonders into wisdom’. I love them, what a creative artist and fun giving of ‘poem rock’!

This new friend, Adam*, I met him at toastmaster. He talked about turning job search into starting his own business. I was curious how he did so I asked if he would be willing to share his story over a meal, drink. He said yes. Adam is charming, a good conversationist and observer. He said he was laid off from a marketing role due to pandemic and for a while, no responses for any application. He was frustrated and decided to start his own marketing practice. Strangely, he started to get interviews after deciding to go on his own. He decided to still take the interviews and prepare well yet position differently. Rather than wanting the job, he tried to understand the problem and ask questions normally interviewees wouldn’t. After he got the offers, he would politely turn down the job but offer the service that he knew would be of values to the hiring managers. Interestingly, they became his clients, including one of his former supervisor. What a creative and fascinating way to achieve win win!

Later I listened to Oprah Winfrey interviewed Daniel Pink for the Wisdom of Sundays. Daniel asked two questions: At the end of life, what do I want my life sentence to be; At the end of each day, am I better than yesterday? What great questions to ask ourselves. For the latter, I’m adding ‘am I making others better than yesterday’ for my daily practice and reflection.

* names changed to protect person’s privacy