Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire; you will what you have imagined; and at last you create what you have willed.—George Bernard Shaw
Several years ago I met a “retired” gentleman named Abe early one morning in the lobby of a hotel in which I was staying. Being an early riser, I’m always looking for my first cup of coffee. Knowing that this hotel has coffee in the lobby, I took the elevator down and grabbed a cup. After getting the coffee, I saw Abe sitting on a sofa and asked if I could join him. He greeted me with a big smile and introduced himself. He hailed from Southern Florida and like me, was in this particular city on business. I inquired what type of business he was in.
“It all depends on what day it is and which telephone rings” he said with a laugh. “You see, I’m seven-two years old, supposed to be retired—but I got bored. So, instead of wiling away my days in Sunny Florida, I decided I had to get busy doing something—it wasn’t that I needed the money because the Good Lord has been real good to me over the years. It was the fact that I needed mental stimulation.”
He then told me about some of the businesses he’s involved in. He had incorporated his lifelong love for show dogs into a lucrative business teaching workshops on breeding for veterinarians and owners. In addition, he owned in a chain of prepaid cellular telephone stores, and had some oil and gas interests.
“I never know which hat to put on when the phone rings” he said, “It can be hectic, even confusing at times, but it’s fun!”
“I know I’m too busy for someone my age,” he continued, “but it beats heck out of being like my friends back in Florida. They’re bored, have no challenges, nothing to do but listen to their wives yap about having them under foot all the time, or playing golf everyday—I love golf, but not seven days a week. These once happy guys have nothing to occupy their minds, so they worry about everything and let me tell you it has turned them into real cantankerous old geezers.”
Then he added, “Of course, I know lots of people much younger who have turned themselves into cantankerous geezers by only giving what is necessary to their job, having too much time on their hands and letting their minds idle so much that they get bored. A mind has to be working on something bigger than itself or it will get into all kinds of mischief!”
So, what’s the point of this week’s Monday Morning? Simply this: if life and your career have become boring, maybe you need to take Abe’s words to heart, “A mind has to be working on something bigger than itself or it will get into all kinds of mischief!”
Several years ago I met a “retired” gentleman named Abe early one morning in the lobby of a hotel in which I was staying. Being an early riser, I’m always looking for my first cup of coffee. Knowing that this hotel has coffee in the lobby, I took the elevator down and grabbed a cup. After getting the coffee, I saw Abe sitting on a sofa and asked if I could join him. He greeted me with a big smile and introduced himself. He hailed from Southern Florida and like me, was in this particular city on business. I inquired what type of business he was in.
“It all depends on what day it is and which telephone rings” he said with a laugh. “You see, I’m seven-two years old, supposed to be retired—but I got bored. So, instead of wiling away my days in Sunny Florida, I decided I had to get busy doing something—it wasn’t that I needed the money because the Good Lord has been real good to me over the years. It was the fact that I needed mental stimulation.”
He then told me about some of the businesses he’s involved in. He had incorporated his lifelong love for show dogs into a lucrative business teaching workshops on breeding for veterinarians and owners. In addition, he owned in a chain of prepaid cellular telephone stores, and had some oil and gas interests.
“I never know which hat to put on when the phone rings” he said, “It can be hectic, even confusing at times, but it’s fun!”
“I know I’m too busy for someone my age,” he continued, “but it beats heck out of being like my friends back in Florida. They’re bored, have no challenges, nothing to do but listen to their wives yap about having them under foot all the time, or playing golf everyday—I love golf, but not seven days a week. These once happy guys have nothing to occupy their minds, so they worry about everything and let me tell you it has turned them into real cantankerous old geezers.”
Then he added, “Of course, I know lots of people much younger who have turned themselves into cantankerous geezers by only giving what is necessary to their job, having too much time on their hands and letting their minds idle so much that they get bored. A mind has to be working on something bigger than itself or it will get into all kinds of mischief!”
So, what’s the point of this week’s Monday Morning? Simply this: if life and your career have become boring, maybe you need to take Abe’s words to heart, “A mind has to be working on something bigger than itself or it will get into all kinds of mischief!”
Have A GREAT and PROFITABLE Week!
Robert Hidde
bob@confidentliving.com
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” --Thomas Edison
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” --Thomas Edison
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