Geoff Steck’s

THANK GOODNESS IT’S MONDAY

TGIM #217

MY BLESSING, NOT MY DOOM

Labor day – when you think about it – is unlike most of the other holidays in the USA. It’s not linked to a person, a religion or race, or a particular historic event.

Hmm … There’s much evidence that the stimulus for creating a Labor Day observance is found in the industrialist/worker disputes that date to the late 19^th Century. The roots of the observance are probably Canadian. And if you want to explore that history, no doubt you could spend your entire Labor Day in the process.

But my vote for how to enjoy the day is to follow the 1884 advice of Peter McGuire of New York’s Central Labor Union, well before Labor Day became “official” in 1894:

Make it a “workingmen’s holiday.” Because, regardless of gender or place in society –

We’re all “workingmen.” We all “labor” — no matter our position or job definition. These days we might still think of “labor” and labor rights largely in terms of factory or “blue collar” work. But a greater-than-ever percentage of workers hold white collar jobs. Or, without regard for collar color, given the current state of the economy, you may be un- or under-employed and your biggest job right now may be creating your next job.

What is your job?

And how do you feel about it?

The concept of success in our work life seems too often to be about laboring to take the most for ourselves from society. But in the taking and getting, we often forget the psychic reward the work itself should give us. And we also neglect the idea that what we do at our work should contribute to society’s well-being.

It is, I think, in this spirit that Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933) who, among many other accomplishments, taught Literature at Princeton University for most of his adult life, wrote the poem “Work.”

See if you agree. Here’s the poem:

Let me but do my work from day to day,
In field or forest, at the desk or loom,
In roaring market-place or tranquil room;
Let me but find it in my heart to say,
When vagrant wishes beckon me astray,
“This is my work; my blessing, not my doom;
“Of all who live, I am the one by whom
“This work can best be done in the right way.”

Then shall I see it not too great, nor small,
To suit my spirit and to prove my powers;
Then shall I cheerful greet the labouring hours,
And cheerful turn, when the long shadows fall
At eventide, to play and love and rest,
Because I know for me my work is best.

It’s also in this spirit Washington Gladden (1836-1918) wrote an important resolution for his life. Gladden was a leading American Congregational church pastor and early leader of the Social Gospel movement. He was probably the first prominent U.S. religious figure to support unionization of the workforce; he also opposed racial segregation.

Here’s what he wrote, sometimes called –

A WORKER’S RESOLUTION

One thing I am resolved upon: I will not be a sponge or a parasite.

I will give an honest equivalent for what I get.

I want no man’s money for which I have not rendered a full return.

I want no wages that I have not earned.

If I work for any man or any company or any institution, I will render a full, ample, generous service.

If I work for the city or state I will give my best thought, my best effort, my most conscientious and efficient endeavor.

No man, no body of men, shall ever be made poor by their dealings with me.

If I can give a little more than I get every time, in that shall be my happiness.

The great commonwealth of human society shall not be the loser through me.

I will take good care to put into the common fund more than I take out.

In these TGIMs, in the Best Year Ever! Program and in many other places we continually remind you that transformation comes about only when individuals open their minds, adjust their attitudes and expand their thinking to encompass the whole community.

The current level of civilization has been achieved by the cooperative endeavor of successive generations on this globe. Technological advances have made our world truly a global village. Eliminating distances and speeding up communications has given the human race a sense of neighborhood. But while all men and women have come closer, this doesn’t seem to have improved our sense of “brotherhood”. Wars and conflicts still trouble our world.

This Labor Day – which by calendar glitch occurs in the same week as the anniversary of the unspeakable events of September 11, 2001 — take time to consider how we all can and must work together.

TGIM ACTION IDEA: It does not take much to grasp our interdependence in the workplace. Maybe that’s an idea worth contemplating this “workingmen’s holiday” while you take Van Dykes advice to “play and love and rest.”

TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: First thing tomorrow, heed Gladden’s counsel and extend that thinking to the wider world.

As for this TGIM, as with the 217 that preceded it: “This is my work; my blessing, not my doom.” And I’m pleased to share it with you.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com

P.S. “The value of a man,’’ the great Albert Einstein who gave the world so much reminded us, “should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive.’’

P.P.S. The Best Year Ever Program is packed with inspirational and easy-to-master secrets and strategies. I think you’ll find it will return to you far more than you’re required to put in. To learn more, click through HERE.

GEOFF STECK leads Alexander Publishing & Marketing, a company he formed in 1986. The core AP&M mission: To create and publish leadership, sales mastery, self-improvement and workplace skill-building resources and tools. The focus: Areas such as business communication, staff support, customer care and frontline management. Geoff also puts his corporate and entrepreneurial experience, independent perspective, and skills as a catalyst to work for other firms (ranging from multinational corporations to more modest operations), not-for-profits, and individuals who have conceived or developed programs or initiatives but are frustrated in getting them implemented.

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