A LITTLE SEASONING
The week before Christmas is usually one of the busiest times of
the year at J.B.'s Barber Shop. It seems that everyone wants to
look nice for family, photos and parties. So, we look forward to
the increase in business. However, I must admit that I don't
generally look forward to the holiday, as such.
For years, Sherry and the kids considered me kind of a Scrooge.
Thus, they learned to just tolerate my annual moodiness.
I finally reached a point where I felt guilty about my
immaturity and how it affected the rest of the family. I decided
to try to identify the source of the problem.
I soon discovered that part of the problem had to do with the
"traditional compulsories" -- the excessive buying, eating,
visiting, etc. The other part involved how holidays disrupt my
routine.
When in town, my routine is very simple: get out of bed at 4:30
to 5:00 AM, leave the house by 5:50, be in a restaurant drinking
coffee and reading a book by 6 and open the shop at 7. Yet,
holidays change all this and leave me with an uncomfortable
"What do I do now?" type of uselessness.
With our three children married and gone from home, and with
other loved ones having passed on, there has been a change in
attitude. Scrooge has sort of turned into a sentimentalist, as
holidays take on a meaning they never had. They've become those
precious moments, on a clock that can never be turned back.
Horace Mann once ran a lost-and-found advertisement: "Lost, one
24-carat golden day. Each hour studded with 60 diamond minutes.
Each minute studded with 60 ruby seconds. But don't bother to
look for it. It is gone forever, that wonderful, golden day, I
lost today."
BARBER-OSOPHY: Mature people appreciate the timeless benefits
that "a little seasoning" brings to a routine.
Copyright 2004, Sumerlin Enterprises. Permission is granted to
reprint this article as long as a link to www.barber-osophy.com
is included. Terry L. Sumerlin, known as the Barber-osopher, is
the author of "A HUMAN BECOMING - A Life Changing Voyage," and
is a columnist for the San Antonio Business Journal. He speaks
nationally as a humorist/motivational speaker. Visit his website
at www.Barber-osophy.com.