Self Appraisal..!

Most of us go through life, thinking we are someone great! We strut around, swagger and feel we are indispensable to home or company. “What would my family ever do without me?” we wonder, little realizing that they could manage pretty well without us.

A little boy went into a drug store, reached for a stool and pulled it over to the telephone. He climbed onto the stool so that he could reach the buttons on the phone and proceeded to call a number.

The shopkeeper listened to the conversation on the extension. The boy asked, “Lady, Can you give me the job of cutting your lawn?

The woman replied, “I already have someone to cut my lawn.”

“Lady, I will cut your lawn for half the price of the person who cuts your lawn now,” replied boy.

The woman responded that she was very satisfied with the person who was presently cutting her lawn. The little boy found more perseverance and offered, “Lady, I’ll even sweep your front yard and sidewalk, so on Sunday you will have the prettiest lawn in town.”

Again the woman answered in the negative.

With a smile on his face, the little boy replaced the receiver. The shopkeeper, who was listening to all this, walked over to the boy and said, “Son I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation. I like your attitude, I like that positive spirit and would like to offer you a job.”

The little boy replied, “No thanks, I was just checking my performance and the job I already have. I am the one who is working for that lady, I was talking to!”

He was just phoning to make sure the lady appreciated his work.

Two things struck me with this little story.

One, that he must have obviously put in a lot of hard work to get that kind of response from his employer and two, that here was a little fellow who was ready to learn about himself. It must take a lot of guts to find out what people think of you.

Do we have the courage to make an appraisal of ourselves?

To really ask ourselves how much we contribute to home or job or community? The other day in my neighbourhood an old man passed away. We spent the whole day, trying to remember who he was. He had hardly made any impact to anyone around and was hardly known though I was told he had been living here for more than a decade!

What about you when your time comes?

Will your neighbours wonder who you were? Or will men and women from all over come and tell your family what a good, great person you were?

Have you the guts to stop a moment and make an appraisal of yourself?

Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist and author. He blogs at www.bobsbanter.com and can be reached at bobsbanter@gmail.com



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