My Annual Holiday Wishes Email—Go Big with Chaos
Twas the night before a kindergarten field trip, when all through the house…
…not a creature was stirring…
Oh, who am I kidding? My wife was out of town and the place was frantic—all the creatures in the house were stir crazy. My 8 year old is blasting Taylor Swift tunes. My 3 year-old thinks he’s a reincarnation of Tyrannosaurus Rex. And, my 5 year-old is pleading for “a special lunch” to take on her field trip. Add to that, two crotchety old wiener dogs who bark incessantly, a 100 lb golden retriever puppy who’s bursting through the house after playing in the rain, a cat who teases all the dogs, and my brother is belly-laughing because he thinks the whole scenario is hilarious.
Frantic.
“What do you want in your special lunch for your field trip?” I asked my 5 year-old, fearing that she would request something out of my culinary skill set. (Let’s be real. I’m great at making hard-boiled eggs. That’s about it.)
“A jelly sandwich,” she replied.
“Nice,” I thought. “Looks like dear old Dad can handle this ‘special lunch’ in a snap.”
Out comes the jelly. Out comes a brown paper bag. Out comes a butter knife. I’ve got this one mastered. And then, I realized we have no bread.
“Sweetie,” I said carefully. “We’re out of bread.”
She paused. Her facial expressions broke my heart. And, I realized that I was in big trouble—because now she would surely ask for something complicated.
“Daddy, I know what we could do!” she screamed, beaming with excitement. “Instead of using bread to make my jelly sandwich, we could use toast!”
Umm, I’m toast.
But, how many of us have felt a little overwhelmed this year—in situations where there are no simple answers? The economy is shlumped. The job market is frumped. And, we’re all getting asked to make toast, when there is no bread.
Here comes 2010. What happens next?
The irony of this holiday message (compared to all my letters in years past) is that resolutions mean new things to all of us this year. And, if history can teach us anything, we should understand that true progress, success, and relevance is achieved in tough times—when our backs are against the wall, and we’re forced into creative survival.
“But, I wanted a jelly sandwich,” she said. “We don’t have toast? We don’t have bread?”
I looked around the room. My oldest daughter was punching through her ipod playlist like it was typewriter—a new blaring song every 10 seconds. My son had the cat cornered—he was roaring at it, just like a dinosaur. My dachshunds were barking at the wind. My golden retriever was apparently seeing how much water he could ‘shake’ onto all the furniture. And, my brother was now curled on the floor in laughter.
My patience was crumbling.
“Do you want a hard-boiled egg in your lunch sweetie?” I asked, knowing that to a kid, it was like I was trading a trip to Disney Land with a trip to the drycleaner.
Her lower lip extended. Her forehead trembled. And, out of the corner of her eye, a teardrop began to form.
“You said I could have a special lunch.”
Panic ensued. I froze. The room became silent. And, then, there it was. The moment I had been waiting for all year. There on the corner of the kitchen counter I saw my defining moment—it shimmered and sang to me (really). I wouldn’t be stumped—not me. And, I wouldn’t make my sweet little girl go to her field trip with a hard-boiled egg.
“Oh, you want something special,” I said. “Well, then you don’t want just any jelly sandwich. You want a Jam-Dog.”
Her eyes lit up—her face filled with wonder. “What’s a Jam-Dog?”
One hotdog bun filled with strawberry jam coming right up—along with a smile from a 5-year-old that made the invention one of my proudest moments of the year.
BE WARNED: This is where I fly off the hook into a visionary quest for the future.
This year, let’s make more Jam-Dogs—it’s not about inventing something new, it’s about perceiving something new.
This year, let’s all learn to value our challenges for the opportunities they can inspire—because without hurdles, we’d never even think about jumping.
This year, let’s improve, re-engineer, rename, and revitalize those things we already are—because we’re all a “special lunch” waiting to become spectacular (Yes, I’ve had requests for Jam-Dogs since that night).
This year, let’s all find creative brilliance—not to just to challenge our situations, but to make someone else smile in the process.
And, this year, let’s all take a step backward, or forward, to immerse ourselves in chaos—the noise (whatever it may be for you) that leads us to pursue a purpose.
I say it every year. And, every year I mean it. This year, even if the muck is taking its toll on reality, don’t let it take it’s toll on your dreams. In 2010, Go Big! Grab yourself a Jam-Dog!
Happy Holidays, again.
Todd