ENDURE: September 6, 2013

Amazing opposites - For the Love of the Game

Finding enjoyment in what you're doing may be one of the secrets of living a long and happy life.  Although intuitive, science seems to keep getting closer to proving exactly this; and although one recent study has reported a genetic link to happiness, it's equally intuitive that how we act and react to any given set of circumstances is initially a choice.  Can you picture the type of person who seems to always be on the bad end of that coin? You know, the person who seems to be followed by the black cloud.....he or she always has something negative to share, there's always some terrible luck that seems to get them down. Now, there are definitely people who seem like they go a while without catching a break, but then there are others who just drag.  If you have a Facebook account you likely can think of at least one person who seems to have this down to a science......a knack for seeing the dread in every conceivable situation.......an "energy vampire" as they are called in Jon Gordon's tale of The Energy Bus.  Despite the fact that I generally try to avoid these folks, every once in a while I truly appreciate them;  Without them I wouldn't know an "amazing opposite" when I see him or her......

Last week I was fortunate enough to arrive at the job site of an "amazing opposite".....in fact, it was a pair of them.  It was a beautiful morning and they were just getting back to work at a job that I was told would be a great one to observe because of its very challenging nature.  It's the kind of job filled with risks and challenges, an easy one to have something go wrong.  I walked up and said hello to one of the crew-members.....I should have known right then that this was a pair of amazing-opposites.  Instead of the "oh no.....you?" look that sometimes occurs, I got a friendly smile and a welcoming attitude......like he was happy to see me.  We chatted a bit and then they got to work......and it was real, hard work.  Heavy items, busy traffic, and beyond the weather, far from ideal circumstances.  The more veteran of the pair was in complete command of the job (and all the personnel there helping)....although it was clear he had been on the job the longest, it was far from a directing role for him.....he was right in the mix......and not one step slower than anyone else.

After the initial phase of the job I asked them a bit about the task and a little bit about themselves.  The amazing-opposites had been working together for several years.  They were a good fit and they worked to preserve their pairing because they enjoyed working together and took pride in both the quantity and the quality of their work.  The veteran of the two had been working for 41 years......that's FORTY-ONE, in a job that is about as physically demanding as they come....it blew my mind a little at first.  He was meticulous and exacting.....and by the look of it, hard to keep up with.  The younger of the two was a great match.....equally methodical about doing things right.......and very respectful of the knowledge and experience gained by "the vet" (after all, the vet had more years on the job than he had on the earth).  And, since my focus is on preventing injury, I asked them how they had done on that front over the years.  They each had a story of something that had gone wrong resulting in pain.....and both had some body areas that needed closer management than others because of the aches and pains of hard work....therefore each had their "bad days" here and there requiring the other to step up temporarily and carry a bit more of the load......but neither had experienced any major injuries.....in more than 50 combined years of high-risk work......NO serious injuries to speak of.  Impressive, but maybe not all that surprising for me. They saw what they were doing not as a chore, but as a challenge...each day with things that made it unique and interesting.....they respected what they were doing for the very real danger it presented and they each respected the other for the skills he brought to the job.....but most of all, they had clearly done it the "right" (and safe) way so many times it was now close to automatic........safe was the norm.  The injury-free years being nothing more than a predictable output of consistent, well-designed inputs.

When I see these amazing-opposites again I'll probably try to get them to share their approach with more than just me, but at the very least, I'll thank them.  They are the embodiment of what CAN be done when we love the game we find ourselves playing.  I'd be willing to bet that if you asked the amazing-opposites, they'd tell you time had flown by......it always does when you find enjoyment.

Have a great weekend,

Mike E.