Remember the movie "City Slickers" with Billy Crystal? He played this guy going through a mid-life crisis so he and his buddies decided to take two weeks out of their lives and work a cattle drive from New Mexico to Colorado. Ringing any bells, yet? Good.
It was a funny movie made even funnier by Jack Palance who played this crusty ol' cattlehand that scared the bejeebers out of everyone and knew it and liked it.
The most pivotal moment in the movie came when Curly raised an index finger and said --and bear with me, I'm working off memory here-- "One thing." He left them to ponder that "One thing" but being the dufus-heads that they were, they didn't quite get it until he spelled it out for them.
"One thing" represented that "One thing" in life they were meant to do. That "One thing" that they could do better than anybody else. That "One thing" that would define each of them for life and thus bring satisfaction and a sense of purpose.
Now for some reason, that had a profound impact on me. I didn't realize it but for the next 15 years, I went about looking for that "One thing". I just knew that out there in the great cosmic unknown was that "One thing" that I was meant to do. The problem was, there was nothing about me that was unique. Nothing that said, "Girl, you got a gift that the world can't deny." Nothing. I was hopelessly, painfully, desperately average.
I looked around and I saw people who were so gifted that there was nothing else they could do but that "One thing". I wanted to be one of those people. Tiger Woods found his "One thing", Condi Rice found her "One thing"...where was my "One thing"? How was I ever going to make a difference in this life if I couldn't find my "One thing"?
So, I spent the next 15 years looking for it. I did anything and everything that was asked of me in hopes of finding it. I knew that once I found that critical piece of the puzzle, everything would come together and life would be grand. Right.
Here's what I learned about Curly's "One thing":
Maybe for a few people, there IS "One thing", but for most of us, it's not about "One thing", it's about "Many things". I don't have one talent that defines me, one skill that seperates me from the rest, one area of expertise that makes me stand out. I'm like most people--I do a lot of things--maybe not better than anybody else but there's one thing I HAVE learned and that is: finding someone willing to take on the task is 90% of the battle.
And I've been more than willing to do whatever needed to be done. I've taught kids that weren't my own, played "jr. accountant", I've painted walls, scrubbed toilets, washed linens, sang off-key, cooked for the masses, pulled weeds, and made meals for sick people I didn't know. ALL of which could have been done by somebody more skilled than me.
Would I love to have that "One thing"? You betcha, but I've learned that what's really needed in life is people who have "Many things" to offer, not just one. So I'm content now to do whatever needs to be done.
There's an old saying that goes "Many hands make light work." It's enough for me to just be another hand because in the end, it's not "One thing" that makes the difference, it's "Many things".
Posted by PamCHBF at March 4, 2005 09:31 AM