One of my favorite blog posts of all time was written in December, a couple of years ago. For my last post of 2014, I want to share these thoughts with you again. 

For nearly 35 years I have been friends with a guy I grew up with named Stacey. Even though we now live in different cities, we still talk almost every week.

As a 16 year old, Stacey served as more than a friend. He also had wheels … hot wheels. And I am not talking toys on tracks.

Stacey actually had a 1950 Chevy Truck that was painted red. Had we not gotten in the way, the ride would have been a chick-magnet in our small town.

Stacey’s dad could work on anything you put in front of him (all dad’s knew how to fix stuff in those days). So, he helped Stacey rebuild the truck into a real hot rod.

Except for one thing, the truck was loaded.

Cue the question . . . “What was the one thing?”

Believe it or not, it was the windshield wipers. Stacey’s wipers were not like today’s wipers. Back in the day, their was a vacuum motor that had a hose connected to the wipers. Let’s just say Stacey’s hose had pressure problems.

The Chevy’s wiper speed was dependent upon the acceleration of the engine. When the truck was sitting still, the wipers operated really fast. Whenever he would accelerate, the wipers would barely work.

Translated — if Stacey and I were stopped at a red light in the rain, the wipers would fly back and forth and we could see great. However, whenever he accelerated, we could barely see the road.

For the past couple of weeks, I have had conversations with countless people who seem to have a leadership vacuum leak. They have used words like tired, exhausted, busy, rushed, frazzled, broke, and dread to describe their Christmas season.

If you fall into that line of thinking, may I remind you our lives are a lot like Stacey’s old wipers. The faster we go, the harder it is to see.

When we drive, there are speed limits for a reason. They serve to protect, not just a driver, but everyone else on the roads. Don’t you wish there was a December speed limit for our lives? I suspect if there were Christmas speeding tickets our hearts would be reminded to slow down and see what is right in front of us. Maybe then, the family and friends who are on our ‘Christmas road’ would not view us as someone who is blowing through at a reckless pace.

Ultimately the choice will be yours. You will either drive by, or drive through, your Christmas. I say go through every moment, every gift, every conversation, and every memory.

You might have more Christmases in the future, but you will never have this one again.

May this truly be your slowest Christmas ever and may your wipers work great.

Leadership Begins at Home,

Randy

Who do you need to slow down for today?

Comments Below …

I am looking forward to applying the principle of the wipers to my own life the next couple of weeks. The blog will be back in January. In the meantime, I pray you and your family will have a blessed Christmas. Thank you for being a faithful reader and for helping me spread the word. I am truly grateful!