My Star Employee Going to Work for My Friend

Every once in awhile you hire someone who makes a difference not only in the day to day work that has to be done, but personally.  We hired someone not to long ago at my facility who took on every challenge, exceeded all expectations, and drove things to a hire level.  She was constantly looking for more work and increasing challenges.  In addition, she brought life to the building.  She was bubbly, energetic, always smiling, loved to ask how I was doing, etc.  Even though she only worked part time hours, I would find myself waiting for the days she worked because I knew it would brighten my day.

A few weeks back my friend who runs another facilty had a full time opening and my star employee went to interview.  I received a call minutes after they met and he asked if he could keep her.  Everything inside me was crying out NO, she needs to stay here.  But, I also knew that it was in her best interest career wise to move forward.  A few days later, my daughter came into my office and gave me here two week notice and let me know she was moving on to her first "Big Girls Job." 

As a dad, I got to see my daughter through the eyes of my department heads.  They would tell me what a difference she was making, how competent she was in her work, how great it was to have her around.  All I could think of was the dishes she couldn't seem to get done, the unmade bed, her junk scattered everywhere.  My little girl grew up in my eyes over the seven months she worked in my facility.  I see her differently today than I would have if she never worked for me.  I wish her well and know she will do an awesome job for my friend.  My loss is definitely his gain.

Meaningless Tasks and Deep Thoughts

I am looking at the tasks that lay in front of me.  Take out the Christmas Tree, take down the outside Christmas Lights, do the grocery shopping, clean the bathroom, start the laundry.  As I contemplate this list of chores (and yes I mean chores) I have to to wonder why!  Why did we go to the trouble of hunting for a tree, cutting it down, tying it to the car, putting lights on it, just to take it down, carry it out, and throw it away?  Why did we hang the outside lights if we were only going to take them down a month later? Why do we use the bathroom in our bedroom (the one I have to clean) when we have three bathrooms in our house? Couldn't we all just use one?  Yes- grocery shopping and laundry make some sense to me, but the rest surely need to be thought through.  My life could be so much more simple if we just eliminated some of the needless things we do. 

All this thinking makes me question how smart are we really?  We send up space shuttles in machines that can sustain incredible heat and speed, yet I still have to stain my back deck every year to protect it from the weather.  We genetically alter plants to produce more and better, but we can't alter them to help us stay at our proper weight.  We create clothes that don't wrinkle, won't stain, stretch, keep their color.  Why not clothes that always are in fashion and hang themselves up?  With all of our great technology we still sweep, vacuum and cook.  I mow the lawn when I am sure we could make grass that only grows to a certain height.  The list goes on.

Obviously today my thoughts are about easing life.  The work I would like to be focusing on today would be deepening the relationship I have with my wife.  A nice walk or hike, a quiet dinner, a sunset.  That is what I would like to be working on, not a list of chores and things that must get done before I go back to work for another week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.