The Ebb and Flow of Life

A prolonged visit in the hospital was an education in the ebb and flow of life in general. Like a hospital, there is a never ending rhythm of activities.

As an observer quietly sitting in the chair watching the ebb and flow of people and machines and daily to-ing and fro-ing was an exercise in humility. Here were literally hundreds of people, both seen upstairs and unseen in the bowels of a hospital, that are all working for the well being of one person.

The morning nurse is there to take vital signs of patients, kitchen staff prepare and deliver meals, doctors and interns do rounds, visitors sit at bedsides, waiting for news of loved ones prognosis and expectancy of going home. Doctors, nurses, technicians, cleaning staff, secretaries, gardeners (yes, the plants also need to be watered!) and snow ploughing, etc. etc. Without one person, other people would have to pick up the slack and the symmetry of life is disturbed.

Sleep for the patient is cat napping between sponge baths, vital signs, housekeeping, medication, doctors visits. And so it goes on... day in and day out, everyone confident in their own position in the daily flow of life.

And so too, our own lives are structured and flow, day in and day out. We are reliant on each member of the household to fulfill each of their functions. Mothers care for their children, households and invariably also have day jobs. Fathers provide auxiliary household duties and provide for families, children in their own ways provide joy and delight, however old they may be.

If any one of the functions falls off the rails, chaos can reign. Dysfunction sets in and all sorts of difficulties ensue.

So too does a business run. Each department is a function of the whole. Without everyone pulling their weight and integrating with other departments, the whole structure will come tumbling down.

No one piece of a business is more important than the other.

The janitor is no less valuable than the CEO. Each function is as important as the other, and provides the total harmony and well being of a business. Let us not be so arrogant as to think that our function in the greater scheme of life is any more important than the person next door. Humility will be your greatest asset and make you a better liked person.

Remember that a wheel will only turn as long as the cogs are in alignment.