Happy Wednesday Everyone! Today’s Core Value is: We Create Our Future.
With two children’s graduation ceremonies, and multiple related events within the last 10 days, one can’t help but think about the future. All graduates complete a significant chapter in life and set their sights on the next. Some roll into the more certain chapter of continued education, but others roll into adulthood and the pressures & uncertainty that come with it.
Thinking about that, I began to reflect on the difference between one having hope and one having expectations. It has been my observation, those who look to the future with well-defined expectations, have a hard time finding peace and happiness. Perhaps you’ve heard these kinds of statements from others? “When I find the right husband/wife, I’ll be happy.” “When I get a real job, I’ll be happy.” “Buy a nice car…make a certain amount of money…live in the right neighborhood…have a kid who makes the right club team”…etc.
Author, Dr. Ray Cummings, discusses three thieves of joy: Bitterness, Complaining, and Comparison. I think that’s right, and going into life with external expectations as the source of happiness will invite all three thieves into your life.
However, the person who enters a new chapter, year, month, day, or even difficult season of life…with hope? They are the people in your life whose presence makes the sun shine differently. They see the best in situations and others; they have faith that what is meant to be, will be, if they just give it their all; and they don’t need the misfortune of others to feel good about their own fortune.
My prayer for my kids is that they will pursue a life of hope, rather than a life of expectations. And so it goes for each of you.
Brett and I are working extremely hard to build a company that is an amazing destination for outstanding professionals, fueled by the energy of hope, to call it home. Equally, we are not building a company that can meet the endless and varied definitions of individual expectations. Of course, we aspire to maintain an environment where certain expectations can be taken for granted – safety, respect, compensation, support, etc. But whether a new graduate, or seasoned landscaper; one should not expect a company, or life in general, to fit nicely into a sharply defined, inflexible, set of expectations to be happy. Individually and collectively, we should all be committed to setting sail for the future of our dreams; not sit idle comparing, complaining, and growing bitter that our dreams haven’t found us when it was never their job to do so. The future is ours to create, not to expect.
Have a great day – it’s my honor to be creating it with you. John
These reflections are part of our internal Morning Messages, shared daily with the Focal Pointe team. They are meant to encourage thoughtful leadership, gratitude, and perspective as we begin the day. From time to time, we choose to share select messages here for a broader audience who values purpose-driven work, service to others, and growth from the inside out.