Walking on thin ice
Someone suggested in an email this morning that I was walking on thin ice. The writer was referring to an opinion I expressed. He is fearful that my decision not to act on a matter will have negative results for someone about whom we both care. I replied that I walk on thin ice every day. I make recommendation and act or withhold action (which is an action) which potentially affects the well-being of others. I have voluntarily chosen a profession which requires me to made educated guesses about a variety of situations. Sometimes I must decide whether to report my concern about the welfare of a child to child protective services. Sometimes I must decide whether to begin the process of involuntarily committing a person to the psychiatric ward of a local hospital for three days. I know that there will be a legal hearing with testimony by a psychiatrist in three days, but still three days is a long time to remove someone from their home. Yet it if saves their life or the lives of others it may be deemed necessary.
Often I rely on the opinion of trusted colleagues and friends to share in decisions which directly affect the health and even the life of others. Many colleagues and friends also rely on my educated opinion.
All of us make many decisions – active or passive – with may have a profound effect on other humans. I am sure that most of us have talked to individuals or read stories of individuals who were on the verge of suicide and a strangers momentary kindness changed their mind. Many of us will directly and indirectly touch the lives of a number of people today. Much of the time it will be easy to forget this fact and stay focused on the task at hand rather than on those with whom we incidentally interact while we are completing our task.
In my virtual “inbox” this morning was the following, “To be truly humble is to accept and honestly try to be ourselves.” This was another way of stating that we are all on thin ice. We need to remind ourselves we do not want or need to be more or less than we are. All of us have particular talents and limitations. We are each a valuable part of the whole. Our particular gifts and talents are needed to allow the universe to balance and feed us just as we feed it. It is very easy to allow other person, places, and events to get us off track emotionally and spiritually. We can aim for perfection while accepting we will not attain it although there may be moments when it seems as if we have come close. Often we will find the line between perfection and failure is very narrow. It may seems as if we are in charge of all the pieces of the puzzle but then something happens. We stumble, the electricity quits working, a storm stops all plane flights, one gets food poison or someone points out that one has had very narrow vision and failed to see or hear accurately.
We are all walking on thin ice. We will not always notice or hear that the ice is much thinner than it first appeared. If someone warns us that the ice is thin we need to pay attention and do our best to ascertain the risk involved in taking or not taking the next step.
Written May 28, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
Someone suggested in an email this morning that I was walking on thin ice. The writer was referring to an opinion I expressed. He is fearful that my decision not to act on a matter will have negative results for someone about whom we both care. I replied that I walk on thin ice every day. I make recommendation and act or withhold action (which is an action) which potentially affects the well-being of others. I have voluntarily chosen a profession which requires me to made educated guesses about a variety of situations. Sometimes I must decide whether to report my concern about the welfare of a child to child protective services. Sometimes I must decide whether to begin the process of involuntarily committing a person to the psychiatric ward of a local hospital for three days. I know that there will be a legal hearing with testimony by a psychiatrist in three days, but still three days is a long time to remove someone from their home. Yet it if saves their life or the lives of others it may be deemed necessary.
Often I rely on the opinion of trusted colleagues and friends to share in decisions which directly affect the health and even the life of others. Many colleagues and friends also rely on my educated opinion.
All of us make many decisions – active or passive – with may have a profound effect on other humans. I am sure that most of us have talked to individuals or read stories of individuals who were on the verge of suicide and a strangers momentary kindness changed their mind. Many of us will directly and indirectly touch the lives of a number of people today. Much of the time it will be easy to forget this fact and stay focused on the task at hand rather than on those with whom we incidentally interact while we are completing our task.
In my virtual “inbox” this morning was the following, “To be truly humble is to accept and honestly try to be ourselves.” This was another way of stating that we are all on thin ice. We need to remind ourselves we do not want or need to be more or less than we are. All of us have particular talents and limitations. We are each a valuable part of the whole. Our particular gifts and talents are needed to allow the universe to balance and feed us just as we feed it. It is very easy to allow other person, places, and events to get us off track emotionally and spiritually. We can aim for perfection while accepting we will not attain it although there may be moments when it seems as if we have come close. Often we will find the line between perfection and failure is very narrow. It may seems as if we are in charge of all the pieces of the puzzle but then something happens. We stumble, the electricity quits working, a storm stops all plane flights, one gets food poison or someone points out that one has had very narrow vision and failed to see or hear accurately.
We are all walking on thin ice. We will not always notice or hear that the ice is much thinner than it first appeared. If someone warns us that the ice is thin we need to pay attention and do our best to ascertain the risk involved in taking or not taking the next step.
Written May 28, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
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