Watch Me Take The Bar

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

I Can't Remember If I've Told You This One...

One of the problems of having a blog with 365 entries is that you sort of forget what you've said to your readers and what you haven't. I don't know if I've told you the story below, but, even if I have, it's worth your read again. Plus, I'm not the one telling it.

It's written by my Uncle Tom. He sends it out every March 28.

After five years of teaching university, I moved to Ohio and the only job I could find was selling shampoo. I was given one hundred beauty salons spread over a dozen towns and told to visit them every two weeks.

One day, I noticed a client going through her very large appointment book, crossing off a week here and a week there.

I said, "Jody, what are you doing?"

Jody said, "Oh this? I figured out that I make enough money to pay my bills and take a vacation every six to eight weeks. So I am crossing out the weeks I won’t be here so my clients know when they need to book with me."

Of course as a former university professor, I pointed out to her why she shouldn't do that. I proceeded to explain how it made her less productive, most people don't take that many vacations, and the effect it had on her return on investment etc.

That’s when it happened. That’s when she gave me that one simple piece of philosophy that I still struggle to live by.

Jody said, "Wait a minute. You don't understand.

I don't live to work.

I work so that I can live!"

I hope you remember the words of that very wise client I married a couple of years later:

"I don't live to work. I work so that I can live."

Jody Stoyan 1958 -- March 28, 1998

posted at 10:04 PM by Michael 0 comments