What’cha Looking For Series ~ Part 1
Temporary Fixes Continue to Need Fixing
Sometime ago, in order to save money, I began cutting my own hair. Initially, I had a rough go of it. After a few bowl cuts, a number of bald spots, and a few emergency trips to the barber on his off day, over time I eventually became a decent barber. Well, while on vacation one summer, an electrical surge burned out the motor in my hair clippers. So I resorted to using a cheaper pair that was previously packed in the “give-away” bag my wife had buried and expected to see them again only in the afterlife of the Salvation Army; it was slated for donation to charity. I did not mind using the cheaper pair; the brand was okay, and they trimmed fine, but the inexpensive clippers were missing a vital guard piece that was necessary to finish my haircut properly. Consequently, I resorted to using the guards from the burned-out clippers on the inexpensive clippers.
The guards from my old clippers did not fit snugly on the cheaper pair. So I had to press them into place and hold them with my thumb, tilt the clippers to the appropriate angle, and fade the temple and nape areas, all the while holding a mirror in the opposite hand. As a result of this awkward juggling act, I began missing the old days—the barbershop days. I yearned for the casual hours filled with conversation, the chair, the knee-slapping chatter, and the quickly formed camaraderie with whomever happened to occupy the seat next to you. Ahhh, those were the days.
But for about the price of one haircut, a shave, and a small tip, I could replace my old clippers and continue cutting my own hair. If I were to settle for the comfort of the barber’s cut and shave, my hair would still need trimming the very next week or maybe sooner; to say nothing about the continued challenge of using the old clippers and my throbbing thumb pressing those guards into place! I actually considered paying the price of a one-time haircut, a short-term solution, over purchasing clippers and remedying my problem for good. My struggle was between a temporary fix and a remedy. I actually considered settling for a temporary solution to a perpetual problem. I was about to engage in a repetitive action, (getting a haircut every week) with no return, as opposed to a one-time action (purchasing clippers) that would generate a residual return. Allow me to put it a different way.
Chinese Fish?
An old Chinese proverb says, “Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, he will eat for a lifetime.” The moral? Some actions are repetitive, but not residual. A repetitive process may provide provision in the present but does nothing for the future. A residual process performs an action in the present, which creates momentum for that process, providing and producing its own provisions for the future. The repetitive offers a gamble, the residual provides a guarantee. Receiving a fish sandwich for lunch every day at noon might provide for the immediate hunger but does nothing to prepare the consumer for tomorrow’s lunch. But the act of fishing creates the possibility of extra today, which allows storage for tomorrow. The act of fishing removes from the process the gamble and replaces it with the guarantee. Yet, some are content to search for a fish sandwich as opposed to a fishing pole. Many are content to anticipate promotions and provisions from limited human resources rather than seek them from the unlimited supply of heaven.
Are you searching for a fish sandwich as opposed to a fishing pole?
Thanks for stopping by. Leave a comment and come back soon to finish our conversation. ~Thomas
Don't Fight the Darkness 