Don't rush!

 This week I continued to meditate on God's plan.  I remembered a quote from Lao Tzu:

This really fit in with the whole God's plan thing.  It reminded me of a story I heard.  A New York City marketing exec goes to the midwest on vacation.  He wants to buy fresh corn "wholesale" from the source because it will be the cheapest.  He comes across a roadside stand near a cornfield selling "fresh corn".  The man selling the corn is dressed like a farmer and certainly looks the part. He asks the man selling the corn, "Did you grow this corn?" "No" replies the man in a straw hat.  So our New York city man starts congratulating himself on not falling for clever marketing when the other man states, " God did, I just helped." 

We create artificial timelines and stress.  Certainly things need to be done and timelines are often helpful in accomplishing items but often we carry things way overboard.  An item needs to be done this week and it should.  But if there is a good reason that it can't is it really going to ruin God's plan if it doesn't get done right now?  Really?  It is that important?  Now of course we need to be careful of sloth as well.  If we have 18 items that we have really good reasons that we can't accomplish we might have to make a good examination of conscience with God!  

One last story.  I was having a bad day at the Pentagon and my boss came to me with an "emergency tasker" like she seemed to almost everyday.  "Dr Legan here is an emergency tasker that I need you to do right now."  I snapped and said, " Colonel, this is not an emergency.  If I am in the OR and looking into a deep hole rapidly filling with blood and I can't find the source, that is an emergency.  Anything I can take into the bathroom and read is not an emergency."   I apologized later of course but it does speak to how we set artificial timelines.  

So at work there is little we can do with these crazy timelines except try and keep perspective.  When we set timelines, hold others accountable but be reasonable as well.  Remember, Nature does not hurry, yet everything gets accomplished.

Pax

Joe