So I am sitting here doing what I do (when I sit here) and just in front of me moving quickly from left to right across the ledge is a little tiny ant. If I was sitting here doing what I do at a picnic the little thing would have gone quite unnoticed. He (I am assuming he) would have been in his natural environment (at least as defined by me). But here’s the thing. I work from home and home and ants are antithetical. At least as defined by me.
My office sits towards the back of the house. A small room filled with windows on all three sides. It is very light and breezy and easy to keep an eye on my nosey neighbors when I feel so inclined as to return the favor. But it is on the second floor. The second floor. How he got here is beyond me and WHY he is here is way beyond. I don’t know much about them but ants strike me as ground creatures. They live in the ground, they walk around on the ground, they eat stuff off the ground or at the very least eat stuff on my first floor kitchen floor on those occasions where invasion has been successful; but, the second floor?
I am thinking that there may be something wrong with him; a little bug psychosis. It made me a little antsy. Don’t you have to be a little crazy to stare straight up at something a thousand times taller than you and come to the conclusion that climbing it in hopes of finding something to eat is a good idea? It would be like me climbing up the outside of the Empire State Building because I had heard at some point in my past that there might be some guy with a cracker in his pocket standing on the observation deck. That is not sound thinking.
Maybe it’s not about food. Maybe he’s desperate. Maybe he’s a jumper. Maybe he stole the G4. I opened my window and looked down the two stories expecting to see a small gathering of several dozen ants chanting “Jump! Jump!” (Wow, they look like ants from way up here . . .). I was all ready with the little finger flick thing (oh come on now, I couldn’t spend my entire afternoon waiting for him to make a decision) but saw nothing really and sat back down.
It then dawned on me that I really do know nothing about ants. Just a bunch of non critical observations along with some assumptions and a decayed memory of faded facts from some old 70’s Animal Kingdom television show. I was in no real position to judge the motivations (and/or instincts) of one of god’s creatures. He knew what he was doing. He saw his purpose. He was built for this and was doing it, my understandings and questions not withstanding.
How many times have we done the same with one of our own? “Why is he here”? “What was she thinking”? “Why are we doing this”? “That thinking has no place here”. “The neighborhood is changing”. And the ever polular, “I can’t”. Those preconceptions, generalizations and sloppy cognitive record keeping that limit each of us, whether said by us or others, discourage and in fact prevent everything that is possible on the second story ledge. Not suppose to be there! Who said so?
At work, at home and at play we need to learn more and judge less. Help others see where the possibilities are. Walk with them on Purpose. Help others up to their second story.
Jim
Partner, The PEOPLE Academy, Inc
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jimreece
http://www.thepeopleacademyinc.com
Jim’s business philosophy is one of people centeredness. He believes in the transformational power of engagement. His nearly 30 years of experience has taken him through a number of industries including manufacturing, hospitality, education and non profit. Beginning in the field of Human Resources Jim saw first hand the effects of engaging people in the decisions affecting their work. His collective experience includes adventures in marketing, customer service and operations both at home and internationally. He counts among his greatest achievements those instances where with gentle guidance someone struggling rises and succeeds.
Jim is an active community member having served two terms as an elected school district official and was co creator of one of Pennsylvania’s first Activity Zones developed to encourage active family togetherness. He received his Masters in Organizational Dynamics from the University of Pennsylvania and is an Adjunct faculty member at Alvernia University.
Jim lives with his wife of 22 years Toni and has two grown boys Jesse and Madison.