Embrace the Winds

“The tallest and most well-rounded trees on our property, are the ones that stand alone. Though they endure the harshest winds, their roots grow deep and wide…BECAUSE of it.”

Recently, I accompanied a younger Project Manager into a Pre-Construction meeting of a job we were about to start. He and I knew it was going to be a particularly difficult job to build, and would require a disciplined group effort of ALL trades working together.

To start the meeting, we all went around the room, and introduced ourselves (names, company, title position, and role for being there). When it was my turn, I smiled and pointed to my younger Project Manager next to me and said, “I’m an old retired P.M. who now works part-time assisting our younger P.M.’s”. The leader of the meeting, an older gentleman on the far end of the table, smiled and said, “You’re here to make sure he doesn’t make ALL the mistakes you made over the years.” I smiled back and said, “Exactly”. My younger P.M. put a hand on my shoulder and said, “yeah, he keeps me out of trouble.” Then the older gentleman responded, “The greatest asset us old guys have, is the knowledge we’ve gained from years of harsh mistakes. No college teaches better than the school of hard knocks.”

After the meeting, and for the remainder of the day, I thought about ALL the mistakes I’d made in the past, not just at work…but at life. And though, at the time, those mistakes were so hard to live through…they made me who I am today, and how I talk to others…

…at work, at home, and how I talk to God.

I’ve learned to Embrace the Winds.