The past week or so has been very hard on me. For some reason, I get really agitated at Christmas time as I seem to be unable to buy enough things or get enough time off. I know that family get togethers are coming and sometimes that's not very fun. It's cold out and because I work a lot in the outdoors, I seem to get my share of head colds and migraines. My attitude has been horrible. I got into a big fight with an engineer because he did something I didn't want him to do. It wasn't that big of a deal but I was tired (on duty for 12 hours and it was 5:30am) and I didn't feel good. Instead of just rolling with things a bit better we got into a massive shouting match and I felt I was seconds away from just punching him and losing my job. I haven't been nice around my house at all. As great as my wife is, my list of complaints seems to never end and I know it wears on her. With all the CS Lewis, George MacDonald and Donald Miller I've been reading, you think I would start to make some progress and quit doing some of these things. But I feel burned out and have let my guard down on more than one occasion.
My company has a slogan that annoys me. There 'big thing' is this: "Safety First". Why does this annoy me? Well, they don't exactly provide the atmosphere or environment to make sure you are always 'safe'. They work you to death. They are always looking to take a bit more money away. They don't maintain equipment or tracks to ensure safety. The list goes on and on. But by saying 'Safety First' they put the onus on us, the employees, to make sure we're never tired, never in an 'unsafe' spot and always have that Stepford wives smile on our faces. Every holiday season they put out a little reminder about safety during the winter months. As I read this I naturally thought, 'yeah, right.... it's that easy'. But upon further review I thought the steps were useful in another area: my spiritual life.
The memo states that during the holiday months over the past 4 years most injuries have been due to slips, trips and falls. They say these injuries are preventable by doing the following things.... I think 'spiritual injuries' are preventable by doing the same things.
1. Keep your eyes on the path
2. Choose the safest course
3. Stay focused on the task at hand
4. Take every precaution to avoid slips, trips and falls (see how redundant they are?)
5. Be aware of your surroundings and expect movement from all directions, all the time
6. Continue to practice good housekeeping
7. Winter action plans are in effect. Be prepared
Pretty obvious, but practical steps to myself being able to avoid confrontations, depression and anger. I won't take the time to tell you how to apply all of these steps to your own life, but I will say that I think most of us need a 'Winter Action Plan'. There are more suicides this time of year than any other. Debt rises faster at this time of year than any other. And God bless our employers because they love to 'cut budgets' this time of year to meet their goals. I know Union Pacific is notorious for cutting jobs during the holiday season to save on their 'year-end' budget. Nice Christmas for those guys huh?
The world isn't going to provide you an environment in which to 'be safe'. We are driven by sex, power and money. If you aren't pursuing those things then you are either mocked or run over. It's very difficult to navigate your way through life at all times of the year, but it seems this time is especially hard. Encourage each other and look for signs in your family and friends that things are not going well. Sometimes you can detect the pending slip, trip or fall and maybe you can play a part in helping prevent that. Have a great Holiday season watch out for what is going on around you and in you.
See you in 2007!
Geoff
