I am reading a book about diversity, inclusion, and leadership in the workplace by Stephen Young titled Micromessaging: Why Great Leadership is Beyond Words.” One of my favorite quotes from the book is “We’re managing the elephants as the ants walk by. We are being overrun by millions of ants.” Stephen Young was referring to managing big issues while we are being overrun by the small ones, but it caused me to stop and think, “How am I managing the elephant of PD while I am letting the ants of interpersonal relationships, work relationships, the millions of small, but very important and beautiful things that exist in life pass me by each day?” That was a hugely sobering moment for me.
Regardless of the struggles an individual may face; disease, loss, tragedy, one can suddenly find that they are having to manage the elephant that they are facing. The sad part is we can focus so hard on those elephants, even though the disease may be incurable, or we cannot reverse the tragedy, or we cannot bring a lost one back, we make that our extreme focus. The sad part, the “ants”, those who love us, those who support us, those who we build friendships and relationships with, our children, grandchildren, and even great grandchildren, the sunny days, the lighthearted laughs, the fun days, the playing in the rain, and so on just pass us by and overrun us. I know that was happening to me.
Trust me, I read another book titled “Parkinson’s Regeneration Training” when an average contributor to the book wrote, “I don’t want to live in a world where I am shaken by Parkinson’s. I want to shake up the world where I live in spite of Parkinson’s.” As of my last writing, I have been blessed to become a mill manager in a successful company and enjoy my off time on the farm. I am glad to have found that quote by the contributor I was talking about in the PD book; I was glad to find me again. Have a beautiful day managing the ants. 🙂
justbejcarmichael 