Dichotomies and Lobotomies

I woke up a year older today and that always seems like a good time to contemplate my navel.  I started today with the simplest of questions: “what is my real purpose in this world?”  Now there’s a mind bender I’m sure none of you have tried!  This question quickly pulls me into dichotomies.  Exit now because it’s going to get deep… 

As I contemplate “my purpose” I end up stuck on the problem of “me” versus “we”.  I believe we are not really separate but “all one”.  However, to experience anything there must be more than “one thang” to compare it to.  So, we’re put on this planet with a secret our soul knows (“we are all one”) but a mind that thinks we are all separate.  No wonder Paxil, Wellburtin, Prozac, Serzone, Zoloft and Riddlin are “running through our veins”!  What's really wrong with lobotomies anyway??

Corporations aren't sent up for "we are all one".  There “purpose in life” is “profits for shareholders”.  Not just some profits, but always more.  Never enough, always more.  Our careers and lives often mirror this “always more” mindset.  We live as if more will make us happy, but what really makes us happy is appreciation of the present moment and what we already have.  Dichotomies: “can’t live with them, can’t live without them”. 

                                 

Let's tie this back to recruiting.  I’ve always liked Hank Stringer’s mantra of “gracious recruiting”. To me it relates to the above.  A recruiter that focuses too much on “always more” will miss the deep satisfaction that comes from treating candidates, hiring managers, and yes even HR weenies as “we are all one”.  Gracious is another way of saying “treat others as you would like to be treated” or “how may I serve”.  The daily pressure of “more is better” comes with the territory.  The counter balance is living from a mindset of “we are all one”.  Satisfaction in recruitment comes from knowing you did a quality job, not a quantity job.

Comments

[Jason Davis]

Great Post!

Jason

[Doug Miller]

Happy Birthday! That's some very deep thinking to be waking up to on your birthday:-)