Mending Fishing Nets

"Repairing Fishing Nets"
- photography by Don Kon

Your life is like a series of connections, like the knots of a fishing net. Each knot is a relationship with another person. As these knots or connections grow, the larger the net becomes. Your impact on other peoples lives grows as well.

But you can't simply create a connection and forget about it. Each knot of the net has to be tended to. When a weak spot develops, a hole can develop. Not only your relationship but a piece of your life slips through.

When this happens, what is left will be difficult to gather back in. So mending and caring for each connection is important.

These relationships are more important than having all of the money in the world. These relationships define who you are. An old saying goes something like this, "he who dies with the most toys wins." But the reality of it is that "he who dies with the most toys still dies."

Tend to your life net connections, those relationships that will improve your life and others. The net will be there when you fall and help you when you recover. It will impact and connect many people to many others. It is your impact on other lives that will mean the most when life ends...a lasting memory to guide others when you are long gone.

Seventh Day

A day of relaxation, a day of reflection and a day to rejuvenate for a new week. You take time out through out your week to catch your breath. It is a necessary part of everything we do in life. The frustrations can build due to work, family issues or the everyday things that life throws at you.

With good attitude and a cheerful spirit, most days pass with an ability to see it through. You may even find yourself using my belief in a 'seven minutes a day' to stop and reflect. But on the seventh day, which may be a Saturday or Sunday, it may be any day that fits into your life schedule. The seventh day should be used to stop and regroup your self.

I would not be so bold to say that life goes after others, it comes after me and those around me as well. Each of us has to take time to re-gather our thoughts. To build ourselves back up for another round of taking on life. It gets easier as you go on in life. You find moments during the day that you can use, those seven minutes, that will work well for you.

The English author Ashleigh Brilliant once said, “Try to relax and enjoy the crisis.” Life is a series of mini-crisis as some may say. I say if you take time out each day and also provide a day for yourself, life will be much grander. Take time for yourself and you will be better prepared to impact others.

After The Job

Last night, I attended a gathering of people to help celebrate the retirement of a long-time co-worker. This man worked for nearly 25 years at the same company as me, having put in seventeen previous to this one at a different company.

He is a man that I had interactions with at various points in my own career with each of us at different positions along the way. He was always there with a smile, a bit of cheer in his voice and from what I could tell, goodness in his heart.

As it is with retirement and people moving on from the life of a career job, each of us will move on to new things in our life. The people you once worked with will slip into the past with our memories. We will remember each other and from time to time reconnect. Yet having known each other enrichens our lives. It helps shape who we've become and what we will continue to be.

As you go about your work day, know that one day you will retire or move on to other things. Create goodness in all that you do. It will impact those you work with for a life time. Thank you Ray for the daily smile and good word. Enjoy your life and the memories will live on.

“Life's truest happiness is found in friendships we make along the way.”

Keeping A Dream

“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.” - Marie Curie

A couple of good friends of mine here in the Atlanta area are guys that inspire me with their level of perseverance. Guys that I look up to as examples of not letting life beat you down. To continue on despite the difficulty.

Both were hit by the down swing in the job market a couple of years ago. The experts say the job market has rebounded but its certainly a different market. Many that were let go were older employees with higher paying salaries. When the various industries started hiring again, they were looking for young people and much lower salary costs.

In trying to get rehired, each of these individuals has continued to look, to try and reinsert themselves into their fields of experience. Both were very good and the circumstances each faced were beyond their control. So they keep doing what it takes to survive, not only for themselves but mainly for their families.

It can be painful to watch their struggle to regain what was lost. Yet I would never suggest that pain is even close to what they are going through. And every time I see these individuals, they are positive and continuing living each day. My wish is for each of them to find their way back into what it is they each do so well.

For each of us, they are great examples of perseverance in the wake of adverse conditions. Life has an odd and non-discriminatory way of placing burden upon people. Keep after your dream each day.