Junk

Have you ever seen the sign of a little boy seating down that says ‘I know I am somebody ‘cause God don’t make no junk?’, I have always loved that sign, so much so that I truly believe and practice what it says...  Once there was a young lady assigned to my team as the last chance since didn’t do well on any other job.  It was obvious that she did not belong in a technical environment but she was a good listener and was able to document step by step what the staff was doing… fantastic fit as technical people hate documentation.  My philosophy then and now is that you can’t be good at everything but every person is good at something.  So when you are faced with someone who seems incompetent at their job, just think of it as they are in the wrong place.  No matter what anyone says, everyone likes to be praised so when you find someone doing a great job, tell them, let them know, put a smile on their face.  If it is the other way around, don’t put them down; help people find their strength, gift, what they are good at so that they too can someday be praised for doing a great job.

Now here is another end of that spectrum, when someone does something hurtful.  As a young person, I use to try to hurt back; you’re ugly, fat and smell like a pig.  As a young professional I use to make sure to point out to anyone that would hear me, how bad this person was which in turn create a circle of hate, now how professional was that?  Later I learn to walk away and pretend that person did not exist, but now, today, I am telling you that the best way to handle this (at least for me) is to let the person know that they have hurt you, tell them, they need to know that their actions are hurtful, that you forgive them under the assumption that they did not mean to create a negative outcome and that you hope that they will change that behavior.  If you do not tell them and they do it again to you or maybe even someone more vulnerable, it will only be on you for not saying anything. Will you change them, who knows? but it is worth a try…  Don’t you think?  When they say, ‘don’t talk to strangers’, forget that, tell a child throwing the paper in the trash what a good job that is, and if you see them throwing it on the ground you tell them that it is wrong and ‘let me show you how is done’, pick it up and throw it in the trash.  Simple.

God does not create junk, circumstances changes the beautiful child into what might be considered junk, but God has also given us the power to make it better for us and them…