I Am Not A Carpenter
I read an article recently I completely related to! The lady in the story tells of a situation where her silverware drawer broke. Considering both her grandfathers were skilled carpenters she was confident some of those skills would naturally be inherited. So singing the 1970’s song “I Am Woman” she picked up a Dremel and dove into the matter with full force.
Carefully reading the directions and twisting her body pretzel style underneath the cabinet, she drilled and screwed and then realizing a problem, removed herself from the wooden frame. In a horrible moment she realized she had measured wrong. Regrouping, she attacked the project again, drilling, screwing, with a bit of hammering here and there! The project finally completed, she stood back and admired her work and saw a visible gap and just a slight tilt in the drawer. Ultimately, she decided she was not a carpenter, and decided it would not be a profession she would pursue!
While the story made me giggle I couldn’t help but think about how many people actually take jobs they absolutely hate or cannot do well! They go to work everyday ruing the day they even applied, but at the same time knowing they need to be able to put food on the table.
In an article in Forbes Magazine, October 2013, a poll showed 87% of overall workers were not happy in their jobs. The article explains this environment creates the stage for a less safe and less productive workplace than if those same people liked their jobs. People want the right materials and equipment to do their jobs properly, as well as, the opportunity for upper mobility. They want to know their opinion counts and know their work is appreciated as a worker and as a person. 1
These are very valid reasons a person enjoys going to work; but I contend there are certainly more reasons a person does their work well. The very idea of being productive is reason to do a job well, or to make a difference! Sometimes it’s about the pay and that is very important, but if a person obtains satisfaction for helping someone who has less than they, or aid in some other life changing way, that very often, can be enough. That can make a person want to go to work!
Now I admit, I could not be a doctor or nurse, bookkeeper, rattlesnake handler, electrician or, like my friend a carpenter! We are all given gifts and abilities which balance with everyone else’s! It’s amazing to know we need each other. Just as we need all body parts to function at our best, right down to our toes and fingers, we need all the wide variety of abilities we can’t all possibly have.
But what about the person with a disability? They are often marginalized because of their ‘in-abilities’! What about their abilities??? How often does what they can do get brushed aside because we can’t see past what they cannot do.
I remember a TV show years ago about a young many who just returned from WWII who was now unable to walk and was resigned to a wheel chair. Getting a job was beyond a challenge. Finally with the help of friends, he learned how to navigate steps (so he could enter the building and was fitted with a car he could drive!) until the owner of the business finally admitted this young man has value!
I encourage you to look at your abilities and those ‘non-abilities’ you have because we all have them. None of us is capable of doing everything well, or even capable of doing everything. We have those tasks or jobs we do well, and those we aren’t ‘fitted’ for. It’s what gives the world balance.
We are each a unique creation, each with qualities and gifts. Let’s look at each other with new eyes and see what we each can do!
Picture Credit: https://pixabay.com/images/search/carpenter/