Today, I finally got to play out a scene I have seen a thousand times in a hundred different movies/TV shows.
(NO, it was not a passionate, earth-shaking-mountain-moving love scene with <insert your favorite hot actress’ name>)
Perhaps a little context will help here. As I mentioned in my last post, I unexpectedly was offered another position. Today was my last official work day at my current job. It was a hectic day with lots to do. Towards the end of the day, I finally had a brief moment to go through my drawers and gather my personal items. After a series of handshakes, hugs, goodbye’s, good-luck’s and keep-in-touch’s, it was time to leave. And as I walked out the front door of the building, I caught myself: “Hey, I’ve seen this in the movies before!”
I was walking out with that proverbial “box” in my hands.
Watching it on TV,I have always had questions about the “box”:
Why do the boxes always look the same?
Are they supplied by the company?
How come no one ever needed more than 1 box?
Why is there always a coffee mug and a picture frame that sticks out the box?
Now, walking across the parking lot, I finally experienced my own scene with “the box”. (Yes, it looked the same as all the other ones. Yes, I found it at the office. No, I didn’t need more than 1 box. Yes, I had a coffee mug inside and a picture frame sticking out the top.)
What surprised me was how little emotion I felt. I guess since my “ministerial” days, I have grown and come to a much healthier, simpler way of looking at my work. One with a much lower level of “personal attachment”. There used to be so many things I put in “the box”: What people thought of the job I did…Objects that tell me others recognized my work…Items that chronicled how long I have stayed, etc…
Today, I simply ask two questions of my work: (1) Did the workplace become a “better ” place from having me there? (2) Did I become a “better” person from having been there? If the answer is “yes” and “yes”, that is enough. Of all the things I may carry out in “the box”, that is the only thing that matters.
Got into the car after tossing “the box” into the trunk. Cell phone rang. “Daddy, mommy and I are packing for New York. When are you coming home?”
Box? What box? 
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Alfred:
Thanks for the post. I think for those of us who are just starting out on our careers, wherever it may be, this is a good lesson to learn that not everybody picks up on. Taking work home with you is something that I believe optimistic young grads tend to do.
What if one of the answers to the questions is no though?
Hi Joeie!
Thanks for the comment!! I like asking those two questions as one way (certainly not the ONLY way) to evaluate my tenure at any position (whether paid or not) because the answers to them are, in large part, up to me. I have to decide whether and how I want to make a contribution to make the place “better”, although in the end, not everyone will agree whether I managed to do it. And I alone decide whether I will use the experience to make ME better as a person. I find that if I go into a situation with those two questions to guide my attitudes, that puts me in a much better frame of mind to handle negative people or circumstances.
How are you doing? Take good care!
Loved this post! A simply example to illustrate a lesson that needs to be hammered home. I learned this lesson too, quite quickly, after I almost burned out with my first job. Still trying to keep that box small right now.. it is hard at times because of the way work is portrayed in many circles. Thanks for the post!