That sinking feeling…
I love Maui Jim sunglasses. I used to love Cross pen and pencil sets. There is a connection.
As a scruffy young CPA in embryo, I was thrilled when Mary bought me a sleek gold matching pen and pencil set—Costume de Rigueur that announced, “I count things and write down the total.” Way before thumbing data into an app on a phone, it was cool to whip out a Cross mechanical pencil and perform calculations on a napkin.
The problem, you see, was I became separated from my writing utensils at an alarming rate. “I’m sure I left it on my desk.” At first, Mary was pretty good natured about this because inventory turnover made it easy to choose a gift for me. “Another Cross set—thank you, Hon. I promise I won’t lose this one.” She finally stopped throwing good money after bad and I learned to scribble with a Bic.
Later, after we got all the kids out of the house, I graduated to nice sport sunglasses. But, alas, wearing them to all sporting events is not wise. I recall the time I lost a pair water skiing and my friend brought out his scuba gear so we could search the lakefront. It was fun, but with visibility limited to 2.5 inches I settled for feeling around in the slimy muck while breathing like Darth Vader. No luck.
For a while I did better holding on to the latest gift from Mary until we were on the boat last summer and—it’s true—a nice pair of shades levitated themselves and slipped off the back of my pointy head into the lake. They fell in slow motion and seemed suspended for a bit—floating, even. I imagined uncorking myself from my cramped captain’s seat and diving to the rescue. The spirit is willing but the flesh… I remember the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as I watched them go bottom up and descend like the Titanic.
Losing things is not fun and it is expensive. There’s one expense I’ve seen get short shrift in business and that is the cost of opportunities lost. Failing to seize moments and take decisive action when planets align is big-ticket pricey. To me, this is especially true when we have a situation calling to unleash talent, but draw back to play it safe or snuggle up to the familiar. Give people opportunities to stretch. You may get a home run; at the least you will get a coachable moment. Carpe diem!
I love the Maui Jim’s Mary got me for our anniversary a couple of years ago. Yet now I wear ZZ Top eye protection in and on the water: Rhinestone shades and cheap sunglasses.
