Meridias on Ripples
“What we do in life,
echoes in eternity.”
– Maximus Decimus Meridias
Roman general
from the film “Gladiator” (2000)
Sales value…
On a Friday before Christmas a few years ago, someone said to me, "No one’s working today."
"Some people are," I answered.
"I mean a lot of the people I know aren’t."
I questioned where that was and the person said it was at one of our local media companies in Richmond.
"How’s the news being produced?" I questioned.
"Well, some people are working. I was really talking about the nonessentials."
I hadn’t heard that phrase in a while. I remember hearing it on huge snow days in the Washington D.C. area when I was on the rise up – an area that hosts a large number of government employees.
"You don’t wish you were nonessential… do you?" I questioned.
- essential (adjective): of the utmost substance
- nonessential (adjective): not essential
Every year we lose some huge contributors.
I like the year-end lists of the people we lost… the "notable" people… the "remarkable" people. It’s fantastic reflection stuff.
One of my favorites is Inc.com’s "Entrepreneurs We Lost". The slideshow version is even more enjoyable. For some reason, they don’t grow to have done one for 2011 but 2010′s is here.
What occurred to me as I finished watching and reading was that there were likely a number of people who contributed to the success of those "remarkable" people. No one does it on their own. Huge contribution to this world requires the help of others. And while those people behind the people may not have made the lists, you can bet there were several people who the "notables" knew to be "remarkable."
So what I’m getting to is this…
We all have a choice. We can be the notable chief or a remarkable supporter but we’re only "nonessential" if we forget to give (or choose not to).
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All can be essential. It’s a matter of becoming vital to someone else (whether it’s behind the scenes or out in front). And that happens by making excellent things happen for other people.
"You’re gonna have to give a bigwig."
– Bob Dylan (1941 – )
American music artist
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One of my all-time favorites for remembering that life is about living and bringing our verse to the world… The classic scene from the film Dead Poet’s Society (1989). Watch it on Sunday night and let it pump you up for the new salesweek.
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