Recently, I caught a glimpse of myself in a mirror as I was drinking a cup of coffee. For whatever reason, a couple of events from my past flashed before my eyes… and caused me to think about their implications in my life. What you’re about to read is very profound… not really… but here it is.
A couple of years ago I got to that place in life where I just had to shave my head. I guess I didn’t “have” to, but I didn’t like the options of Rogaine, a comb over or just plain denial. I will admit that pulling the trigger on this was very scary and was another one of those times in my life where I knew I was getting older (I’ll be 40 in about a month).
About two years before I “had” to shave my head, I started drinking coffee. Initially, I tried every type of combination of sweetener and cream that could be imagined. Through all of that I developed a taste for coffee, but was never really satisfied. Then, one day, I got a cup and found that there wasn’t any sweetener or cream available… dilemma… I decided to drink the coffee black. All I can say about that moment is that it was like a great epiphany that provided a glimpse of heaven. I began to drink my coffee black and it seems each cup I drink just gets better and better.
Now if you put a gun to my hairless head and asked me if I would like to have hair like Brad Pitt… I’d have to admit that my vanity would rule the day and I’d have to answer “yes”. However, since that isn’t going to happen and I have yet to see a Hair Club for Men commercial that would compel me to pursue a fake head of hair… I can say with great confidence that I love my bald head… especially when it’s drinking black coffee.
Why do I share all of this with you? The reason is that these two events have added simplicity to my life. It takes me exactly zero seconds to fix my hair and my coffee in the morning. Sometimes getting rid of (by choice or by necessity) things we love and that have served us well over the years can actually improve our life.
I’m sure many of you have seen this acrostic before.
Keep
It
Simple
Stupid
This is a great principle for life and leadership. The ironic thing is that most of us spend our lives actually trying to complicate things instead of simplify them. We are all inundated with our own wants and great marketing that tells us more is better. We seek out more things to help us with the things we already have. In leadership, most of us will find ourselves craving to learn the next new thing or secure the next promising business tool, computer program or gadget.
I know I need to be praying for God to show me what I have in my life or involved in my work that has served me well but now needs to go.
Shane,
Well observed and well said. I used to attribute that type of insight gained in my life to maturation and life experience. And I am sure those two factors contribute, but I have come to realize that we see past hair loss remedies and fancy ways to “improve” our coffee when we begin to love the unique person God created us to be. When we grasp the fact that God did better in creating us than we will ever do in “improving” us.
Donald Miller said it much more poetically than I have in “Through Painted Deserts”. “Life is a dance toward God, I began to think. And the dance is not so graceful as we might want. While we glide and swing our practiced sway, God crowds our feet, bumps our toes, and scuffs our shoes. So we learn to dance with the One who made us. And it is a difficult dance to learn because its steps are foreign.”
That ties to what you have posted so nicely. If we recognize who should be leading the dance, dispense with all the complex moves intended to impress those watching us, and instead focus on doing well the basic steps, the outcome is assuredly graceful, joyous, and foregone.
Chip, thanks for adding your insight on this topic.
I think that there are no connections with shaved had and coffee drinking.
Excelent post. Linked it.
I second both of those. My wife strongly dislikes my shaved head, but I no longer worry about being thought of as a poser pretending to have hair. Youth trips are easier especially when bathing conditions are not ideal and I think it makes me look just a little tougher…especially with a tan…lol..
good post.