Man, how I wish I’d had my camera the other day to show you a real Kodak moment. There I was, minding my own business heading into Launceston, turned on to the main road and what should I spy some distance ahead but a crop duster, plane that is. He’s out quite regularly spraying the poppies and other crops in the area, the guy in the plane that is.
He was a little way to my left, banked around and came straight at me. I had this strange moment as if I’d been transplanted into a war movie, and any moment the da-da-da-da-da of his guns would strafe the road and fill the car with holes, and probably me along with it.
Not to be outdone he must’ve figured I needed a little more impressing. Disappearing over a hill I lost him for a while, but driving over the crest of a hill, there he was, bang in front of me, accelerating out of a dive and flying over the road, clearing the power lines with what looked like inches to spare. Got me quite excited. Naturally I would’ve run off the road if I’d made any attempt to catch the moment on film, but it sure would’ve been a good photo.
To the guy in the plane it’s all in a day’s work and probably not exciting at all, but for us mere mortals it’s funny how some occupations capture our imagination. Watching him dip so low as he sprayed the crops then swoop up again and turn for another run, dicing with danger as he skillfully manoeuvred his little plane to avoid trees and power lines, reminded me just how different we all are. What’s simple for one may be terrifying for another, what’s challenging for one may be tedious for another, and exciting for one, boring for another.
Unfortunately, too many of us spend our working lives in jobs simply as a means of keeping the wolf from the door and a roof over our head, so to find an occupation or career that’s not just a job is a real achievement. To find fulfilment in what you do beyond the pay cheque is a reward in itself, but to be in a position where you feel called to do what you’re doing, the payoff goes far beyond the job itself.
If you believe what you’re doing is making a difference in someone else’s life, or is heading you in the right direction to reach your full potential in whatever sphere of work, there are many who will even forego the lucrative pay cheque to see their dreams come to fruition. No great artist or musician or composer became who they are by playing it safe. Fred Hollows and Mother Teresa and Gandhi and William Wilberforce wouldn’t be household names if they’d simply stayed within their vocations and not stretched themselves to broaden the scope their skills could bring to those in need.
For me, whatever I do, big or small, I try to at least do it to the best of my ability. That’s probably one reason why I procrastinate and take so long to get around to starting certain projects, but I don’t like to do things half baked. Don’t like starting something if I can’t finish it. Ah well, time to get the paint out of the tins in the laundry and on to the walls, time to drag those stories out of the filing cabinet and give them another going over or get rid of them, time to empty the In tray at work and apply myself so all those pieces of paper in the too hard basket end up in the Out tray.
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