Thursday, May 31, 2018

Thoroughly Thursday...

With all this cleaning going on at my house these last few days I've come across some very interesting things I had no idea I still had.

This maniacal cleaning is not because of boredom (we are NEVER bored at my house...there is always something to do!) nor is it because I'm just tired of things thrown here and there on any available shelf space (although that's partly true).

No, I made the mistake a few weeks ago of diving into the stack of storage containers in my garage looking for....I don't even know what I was looking for. The point is, that the "whatever" was not in the first, second, or even third container I rifled through. What I actually found were things that had once been packed away when our family lived in Texas....SIX YEARS AGO.

Oh no, this stuff has gots to go. If I haven't needed it over the last five-and-a-half years, I probably won't need it anytime soon.

So you see, I've been highly motivated. Even more so when I found a box with Biology class notes from when I was in 10th grade. Or was it the stack of history and English papers I wrote from both junior high and high school?

Now I wonder: Should I throw these out? I'm in a quandary. One side of me wants to get rid of them; I mean seriously, when will I ever need a report on Ireland? Or why do I even care who was the greatest literary author? But the other side of me is a teacher and one thing I make my students do is write: essays, papers, speeches...we write, write, write.

Well, they write. I grade them and then wonder why I torture myself by having them write so much.

But some of the things I've unearthed are really quite fascinating. Like, for instance, my Bible class notes from 9th grade. We studied the book of Proverbs that year, and there were lots of good things written in nice, evenly-spaced cursive that looks nothing like my handwriting now. One section of notes dealt with the slothful man and here I found a list entitled Fourteen Points on Being a Good Worker taken from Ordering Your Private World by Gordan McDonald.

Have you noticed that our culture today is more concerned with playing than working, or getting a job done regardless if it's done correctly? It's becoming increasingly difficult to find someone with a good work ethic. Gone are the days when someone is self-motivated and dedicated to not only completing a job, but getting it done right. And what do you know...that's actually the first point in the list of fourteen points mentioned above. Here are some other ones:
  • Equally concerned with the BEFORE, DURING, and the AFTER of a job.
  • Fulfills his responsibilities (a lesser job--like David, when he took food to his brothers he found someone to fill in as a shepherd while he was away)
  • Never has to be told twice or reminded. Once is enough
  • A good worker's leader never has to worry about the worker.
  • He learns to get the same jobs done in a less amount of time.
  • He is confident of his work--confidence is knowledge.
  • Doesn't make the end of a job his goal, but rather the completion and perfection of the job.
  • Has a vision for every job.
  • Takes on new jobs without lessening his efforts in the old job.
  • Concerns himself with the concerns of his boss.
  • Does not always have to be told once. Just do your job.
  • Is guided by a job and not by hours.
  • He knows no little job.
Just a little motivation for whatever work we do and the right worker we need to be. And all from my 9th grade Bible notes. Think I'll hang on to this list a little longer.

Everything else? Time to go bye-bye.

Simply Sifting Through,

1 comment:

  1. I have this same issue. It needs to go but I want to keep it. I have done the best of both worlds (I think). I have been scanning things I believe I want to keep then shredding it when done. At least I have everything on External Hard Drives. Now everything is getting neatly compact.

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