Fifteen minutes of Fame
- we all seem to want it, and according to some we are all due our
fifteen minutes in the limelight. Well, maybe, or maybe not. I am sure
that the law of averages has something to say about that, and more
likely some celebrity out there is using up a whole lot of other
people's 15 minutes. I am sure mine has already been used up somewhere,
maybe yours too. Who knows?
We all day-dream
about what might be. However, instead of making the dreams a reality, we
often squander countless minutes musing about a possible future - while
instead we could have been doing something more productive towards that
(or any other) goal.
Other times, we
are either delaying work on an unpleasant task, trying to put off the
inevitable, or simply waiting until we "have enough time" to get the
task done.
The truth is that it is far more
rewarding (and practical) to apply those extra minutes towards the things
that you need to get done. Even better, apply the time towards the
things you need to get done, and you will find you have more time to do the
things you want to do.
For some, this
seems hard to do, particularly if the task is difficult or unpleasant,
or you are simply procrastinating. We all procrastinate - some more than
others, and I will admit I have had my fair share over the years.
Usually, it just takes some butt-in-seat glue to stay and get focused on
the task, and it gradually starts to take shape - and soon enough you
find the task completed.
Listen to the podcast or read the full article on Gazza's Corner Blog.
When I was
fifteen, I spent the summer visiting my relatives in Alberta. Nothing
unusual about that, as we did that most summers. We would usually drive
the nearly 14 hours to Calgary and then spend a few very enjoyable weeks
visiting the grandparents, exploring the farmyard and visiting our many
aunts, uncles, cousins and other relatives in the area.
What was
different about that summer is that our family divided up the visits,
allowing us kids to each spend more time with our relatives, one-on-one.
I spent a few days with my grandparents, and then one of my Aunts came
to pick me up and drive me up to their farm an hour and a half to the
north. My parents were going to pick me up later in the week to take me
to the next relative.
It was a hot, dry
summer, which was not uncommon in the prairies. Her car was brown.
Actually, it might not have been brown, it was just coated in so much
dust you couldn't see the colour underneath. My grandparents waved from
the front steps of the farmhouse as we rumbled away down the gravel
driveway, dust rising high behind the car. It was a little hard to see,
but I didn't think too much of it. Everything was dusty that summer.
As we drove down
the main gravel road and onto the stretch of pavement before we reached
the main highway, my Aunt said she needed to stop and get some gas. We
pulled into a little gas station and the attendant started to pump the
fuel.
"Just need to
clean the windshield," she said as she hopped out of the car and grabbed
a squeegee from the bucket beside the gas pump. I remained seated in
the car.
She dragged the
wet spongy side across the top of the window, and rivulets of mud
tracked down the glass. She re-wet the squeegee several times as she
progressively sponged and cleared the dust and mud off the outside of
the window.
She looked at the
window, frowned, and then leaned into the car to have a look out of the
windshield. "You might want to get out," she said as she walked back
around the car towards the squeegee bucket.
I unbuckled myself and got out of the car just as she stepped forward and proceeded to drag the wet squeegee across the inside of
the windshield. It, too was covered in dust, and trickles of mud ran
down the glass and dripped onto the dashboard. Slightly flustered, she
quickly cleaned the inside of the window, paid the attendant and then we
got back into the car.
As we drove down
the dust-free highway, windows still down but now able to see ahead of
us more clearly, I asked her why the car was so dusty on the inside. She
replied that the car did not have air conditioning, so naturally
driving with the windows down was a good substitute.
However, living
on a farm (with no air conditioning), you had to keep the windows down
to cool off, but of course that let the dust in. With the manual window
winders and only one person in the car, it was hard to put the windows
up and down as you regularly went from asphalt to dirt or gravel - so
she mostly left them down.
Thus the coating of dust throughout the car, inside and out.
Driving with
clear visibility in front of you is obviously important - that is why my
Aunt cleaned the window once we were off the dusty road. But ask
yourself this - how many of us truck on ahead with our projects, "just
getting the work done", but with no clear vision of where we are going
or what is up ahead?
It might just be time to pull off the road and check those windows.
Listen to the podcast or read the full article on Gazza's Corner Blog.
