First light of morning.  Down in the trees is where the campground is.  The building in the distance is called Indian Lodge.

While driving north today I spent most of my time thinking about two things.

I replayed my afternoon at the Cowboy Poetry gathering and I realized something that felt significant to me.  I don’t own a cowboy hat, or boots.  I don’t dress like these folks and come from a completely different environment.  I have a pair of jeans in the bottom of one of my clothes totes that probably won’t see the light of day this whole trip.  I’m living my life in sweatpants.  But I felt completely at home with these people.

Now I did see a couple who looked like they went out and bought whole new outfits from Rodeo Drive (Ro-day-O) or Madison Avenue Western Wear if there is such a place.  There were guys who had the boots, but they were polished and their jeans were creased.  But those were exceptions.  Most of the folks at this event struck me as people who are grounded in ways some can’t even imagine.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think they have the corner on that.  I felt an admiration for them, an affection, performers and attendees alike.

Driving along I felt a certainty that I would be back.  Oh, and I’ll spend more time in the Terlingua Ghost Town too.

Change of gears.

The second part of this post, which started during yesterday’s drive, is still trying to write itself this morning at 5 AM.  So it’s now Monday, but it’s really 6 AM to my body ‘cause I changed time zones.

“Stop judging and evaluating yourself, for this is not your role. Above all, stop comparing yourself with other people. This produces feelings of pride or inferiority; sometimes a mixture of both.”

Makes sense right? These were the opening lines of yesterday’s page in Jesus Calling. The meditation went on to challenge us to not seek affirmation from others, but from Him.  My mental wanderings eventually brought me to; how does this square with our work lives?

Yup, I’m thinking about work, can you believe it?

I spent the greater portion of my work life in management, both on the sales side and on the operations side.  In business, the performance of the individual drives the performance of the team or group, which ultimately drives the performance of the company. You can have good systems in place but in the end how individuals perform within those systems is where the rubber meets the road.(oof da, clichés, they’re the bane of our existence)

In my opinion, good managers and supervisors should always be trying to enhance the strengths of people while helping them strengthen their weaknesses. AND, they should always be affirming their people. I wish I would have been that good all the time. The point is their jobs are to constantly be evaluating, “judging”, correcting, and affirming.  AND, turning that light on themselves when needed.

So, is business the exception to what makes sense in those opening lines? Are we to have a set of rules for our work life, another for our social life, and yet another for, say, our competitive lives?  Nah, that can’t be right.  That which is our spiritual life can’t be just it’s own compartment.  Whatever it is that is greater than ourselves that guides us, in my case belief in God and trust in Jesus as the example, the trick is to make sure it is evident in all parts of our lives.  I wish I thought I was really good at that, but my life trashed perfection a long time ago.  How is that for ignoring the message?  We are all works in progress are we not?

The sky over my left shoulder is getting very orange.  Huh, that’s where this post started. 🙂