I saw the full version on a friend’s wall earlier today and had to steal this piece because it rang so true. It was geared toward children and the way we speak to them. “It’s about time.” “Why can’t you do X every time?” “Is that all?” “Your Best?” “You can do better!”
How often do we miss the little steps? How often, in our haste toward success, do we forget to recognize the process? Do we expect our kids to be born with college degrees, or do we still recognize the progression in between?
It really isn’t just about the kids, though, is it? It’s a simple concept too. Yet, we forget in our haste to deal with our hectic lives. The pressure we feel to accomplish more, in less time, with fewer resources, distracts us from any track but our own.
We forget we’re dealing with humans, young or old, who are just trying to do the best they can with what they’ve been given too. How easy to overlook improvement when everything in our lives is happening at the speed of The Net. How natural, in the digital world, to become isolated and focused only on our own objectives, forgetting that those around us are not performance enhanced automatons.
How much different would our world be, with all of our modern marvels, if we could slow down long enough to remember; neither Rome, nor Microsoft were built in a day. They were built by real people, with real lives, who put in an astronomical amount of work to make it happen. It was messy. There were accidents and injury and all manner of setback. But, in the end, they rose.
Do you suppose that happened without anyone ever stopping at a Milestone along the way, to say, “Wow! It’s happening! We’re going to make it!”
What does it say about a society that can’t even remember, “Please and Thank you,” let alone, “Well done! Keep going!”?
Maybe we’ve become a soul-less society for a lot of reasons. This one, however, is in our hands completely, every moment of every day. The bottom line is, we’re all in this together. It would serve us well to remember that in every aspect of our lives.
So, look around today. Just for a minute. Find somebody doing a good job. Find someone trying hard. Tell them they aren’t invisible. That’s all. Just, “Good job. Don’t give up!” or “You’re getting there!”
You never know. You may have stumbled across the next Elon Musk, just when he was ready to throw in the electric towel. Either way, you’ve made the world a better place just by spreading a little hope. All you have to do is stop for a second and notice.