Chapter Two in the ongoing saga of Cleaning My Office: Work not Designed for Cowards.
As I reported a few weeks back I'm clearing out the remnants of more than a decade's worth of company operations and well over one thousand published articles, stories, studies and technical reports. There are file folders for each assignment with printed copies of information, transcripts of interviews and a "tear sheet" or published version. An avid recycler, I don't anticipate buying printer paper for a long time. Just to make the enormity of the task more significant, though, there are additional dozens of manila file folders labeled, for example: future stories, jokes, or ideas for seminars and speeches. As I've also said before, better I throw them out with respect than leave them to the kids to toss with impunity. I did keep a few things and here's something I thought you might enjoy.
Each year the Washington Post invites readers to supply alternate meanings for common words; here are some winning entries: Coffee-the person upon whom one coughs; abdicate - to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach; and, one of my favourites, flatulence - emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller (http://www.mipmip.org/tidbits/neologism.shtml). Words are such fascinating things; as a writer, one of my most enjoyable challenges is finding the perfect word to describe any given situation or emotion.
More challenging is living life in such a way that the labels others put on us accurately describe what God has called us to be. Kind, forgiving, generous, helpful, caring are some of them; rude, arrogant, judgmental and selfish are not.
"Obey as men who are free but do not use this to cover up sin. Live as servants owned by God at all times," 1 Peter 2:16 (New Life Version)
