I Walk The Line

This post has nothing to do with Johnny Cash, or any kind of physical line, whether it be the kind you stand in at the airport, or the kind you snort, or the kind you must walk along in a roadside sobriety test.

It's a metaphor, much like Cash's famous song.

Collectively we all Walk The Line I suppose. It's that imaginary "centre-place" we all have when we're going about our daily lives. It's the way we conduct ourselves, the decisions we make, the actions we take and the inactions we don't. I will give the analogy of a boat or a vessel. You're at the helm, and it's your responsibility to ultimately get to your destination. The water you're submerged in isn't a rigid concrete surface. Rather, it shifts and moves, and therefore can move your boat off course. When that happens, you turn the steering wheel left, or right..or you increase the power in the engine (if there is one), or turn off the engine altogether. Regardless, you do what you have to do to right your path.

So when you look at your daily life, this applies to the seemingly innocuous decisions you make every few minutes to get through your day. Should i sleep in a few more minutes, or get an early start on my work day? Should i have fruit or bran flakes for breakfast? What's the best route to travel to work based on the weather or other variables. All these somewhat mundane decisions lead ultimately to a bigger objective on a day to day, week to week and year to year basis. You need to get to work and do your job well enough so you have a reasonable income, which leads to the lifestyle you desire, which leads to some form of general happiness with life.

In theory.

But much like choppy waters in that vessel force you to make decisions to right yourself towards your ultimate goal, it's some of the day to day decisions which can affect where you end up.

Some are more obvious than others of course. For example, it's probably not a good idea to walk into work and vomit on your boss.

But what of the more subtle decisions? What if a supervisor asks for your help on something, but you realize said supervisor is an idiot, and furthermore, the task she or he is asking you to do has absolutely nothing to do with you. When you get the email, you read it and say to yourself: why the hell is he/she getting me involved in this? As I like to say, "not my monkey, not my circus". Why am I wasting my time by essentially doing someone else's work?

It's a tough call, it's a grey area. The most obvious decision is to just do what's asked of you. After all, you want to be seen as a team player and a resourceful, knowledgeable person who can make things happen. Useful to the company. But what of standing your ground? If you continue to be seen as the guy or gal who'll just do whatever someone asks, isn't there the potential danger of being seen as someone who can't say no, and therefore can't make a tough decision, and therefore isn't promote-able?

Therein lies the rub.

And what's truly chilling about these types of work matters is what isn't visible to the naked eye. It's the unseen, the unwritten and unspoken that can lead to the end of one's job. It's what's being said about you by others...others higher on the food chain...that can affect whether you have a job tomorrow or not. And if just one of these higher food chain types is politically the most powerful for one reason or the other, and isn't a fan of you or your work.. sayanora!

Which leads, of course, to you steering your ship in a new direction. Not by choice in this instance. And this is frightening because we've all been fed the notion that we control our own destiny. You reap what you sow, and so on. But that's not always true now is it?, given the scenario illustrated in the previous paragraph.

So in uncertain times, and unpredictable waters, always be flexible enough to adapt to a new direction. Be open to a reality that you never thought possible. Imagine yourself doing the un-imaginable. When i was playing high school football, i remember one of the coaches saying that if you were going down hard after being hit, it''s best to roll into the impact rather than stiffen up to resist it. The ground will win the battle. You are not tougher than the ground. If you remain loose and go with the flow of the fall you are about to make, it will substantially reduce the chance of injury because you're essentially adapting and preparing for the inevitable impact.

Makes sense for football. Makes sense for life.