Scrolling through Twitter, my eyes skimmed across the saying “you can do anything, but you can’t do everything.” For someone who is currently living out of a blue 2015 Chevy Trax, the opportunities to drive coast to coast or nestle back into my former residency of the small town near the Ihanktonwan Dakota Oyate tribe land seem limitless. It’s almost serendipitous that this healthcare CEO’s post happened to catch my attention. Becca, you have the option to do literally anything, but you have to decide because you can’t do everything.
GroundHog’s Day
This last week in America we celebrated National Groundhog’s Day, where the world waits for a rodent to pop out of hole and tell us if it’s going to be cold or cold for another 6 weeks. Any bets that it’s going to be cold? At many stages in life, we feel like we are living Groundhog’s Day. Wake up, shower, brush your teeth, drink your morning cup of Joe and complete the same mundane tasks that you did yesterday. When does the spontaneity leave our souls? Is it at 21 when the doors open to the bars and the “real world”? Is it at 30 when you can feel the adventure suck from your brittle bones and the droop weighs heavier under your eyes? Or is it at 85 when you’ve melted the decades together and share your wild (somewhat altered to sound better) history with your grandchildren. In life, we have the opportunity to do anything, literally anything. But at the same time, we can’t do everything.
Till I Collapse
Eminem said it first, “Till I collapse from spillin’ these raps, long as you feel ‘em.” While I may not be the greatest female white rapper of the 21st century, I think as a democratic society we can relate to giving our all to please the minds of others. We give our all in the hobbies we enjoy. We give our all to helping our family and friends in desperate times of need. We give our all even if it only looks or feels like 50%. My little Blueberry (temporary home on 4 wheels with heated seats) has a gas tank that is half full. In 200 miles, I will have given all my gasoline to the polluted air and blacktop roads. I gave it my all. At one point in the week, “all” looked like 50% in the tank but it was “all” I had. If you hear the word “all”, you imagine intense, never-ending work or play. When in actuality, that word means what you have at the moment. If you are only running on fumes when you get home from a long day at work, your friends, family, or spouse must realize, that is all you have. Supper might not be made. Affection might not be shown. Attitudes may be a bit grumpy. We expect people to offer themselves 24/7. Rapid responses on text messages. Answering phone calls at any hour. The mere entitlement of being available to anyone at any moment of the day. It’s exhausting to just exist. Home in on your skills and stick to them because sure, you can do anything. But everything? Everything is exhausting.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” These words spoken from the 35th President of the United States reign across my LinkedIn profile as they resemble words that as a leader I hope to live by. I’m not looking to advance a career in politics, but leadership happens in everyday life. JFK was an average student. My soon-to-be cousin recently passed along a grade report from Canterbury School where President Kennedy attended his first year of high school. The grades showcased that John was a B/C student proving that anyone can do anything if they really strive for it. Much of JFK’s life was directed and shadowed by his father but in those moments of defeat, Jack Kennedy individually became more authoritative in his decisions and confident in his charisma. “He became the first President to win the office at age 43, the first "Chief Executive" born in the twentieth century and the first Catholic in the White House” (histsociety). His “underdog” (if a Kennedy can be named an underdog) story portrays that he could do anything. But if you ask his wife, Jackie, his mistress, Marilyn, and his personal physician for back treatments, Dr. Powell, even as president he couldn’t do everything. As a leader, the vital understanding of consistent learning is a necessity to lead wisely. To maintain the work/life balance, you must save your energy by delegating to your colleagues. Because we can’t do everything. While the Twitter post I ran across last Thursday had intentions of striking the working, leadership class, I found the message personal. My inner self said make a decision, stick to it, watch the next JFK documentary and keep living your nonchalant life doing anything. Just remember, we can’t do everything.
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