Some people like the occasional cold shower. They find it invigorating. I am NOT one of these people. I’ll take it as hot as I can stand it. Why do I mention this fun little fact about me? The other day I had to take a cold shower as a result of having a little problem with the pilot light in the water heater. So, occasionally I’ll be all ready to get in and then realize there’s no hot water. At this point, I am faced with two options: 1. Get in and bear it (or) 2. Light the pilot and wait 30 minutes. I chose the former.
Did I mention I do not like to take cold showers? To take my mind off the fact that I am taking one, I do this little dance while spouting nonsensical primal noises and gibberish. Other than making my wife think that I am more crazy than usual, I think there is a poignant take away here.
When we engage in things we don’t enjoy or find unbearable often times we develop rhetoric to take our mind off the real problem. Every endeavor in life requires some supportive script to make it both feasible to sell it to ourselves and to prospects. The real question is do you buy the pitch? If you don’t buy it, other people literally won’t buy it.
So, the result of engaging in an activity that you are not connected to is that you start speaking in ways that are foreign to your original mission and purpose. Foreign to your identity. You are taking a cold shower and trying to take your mind away from it by doing a little dance and speaking in an unintelligible manner. Let me clarify, by unintelligible not outwardly necessarily, but to how you really feel.
So, I pose the question: Are you engaged in what you’re doing or are you trying to take your mind off having to take a cold shower?
