Stepping Stones

“One of the secrets of life is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks.” — Jack Penn

My first year as a County Extension Agent was very educational. I learned many things, but one lesson has served me well.

My boss was an older gentleman who was still a few years from retirement. He was buddies with the agent from the neighboring county and they always roomed together at in-service trainings.Since I was young, and everything was new to me, I took copious notes and asked questions when I didn't understand something. They sat in the back of the room and joked with each other.

At lunch one day they started having fun with me about how many notes I was taking. I was a little flustered with them and asked why weren't they weren't taking any notes.

Their response caught me off guard, but I would learn in years to come, that it was a very honest response. They had seen the same presentations every year for the last five to ten years. My next question was, "Then why do you come at all?"

"Because we always get one or two new pieces of important information every year." They were there for the tidbits, the little jewels they didn't already know.

Since then, I've always looked for the information I didn't know, or the different perspective that helps me see a situation differently. That change in attitude helped me look forward to programs and presentations I might find boring otherwise.

I looked for stepping stones instead of looking for stumbling blocks.

#Motivational Monday, #steppingstones, #stumblingblocks, #tonycfrankllin