We often ponder the question, of “Who Am I?” versus “What Am I?”. Some people do their job, because it’s what they do. Some people do their job, because it’s who they are. I guess the only difference is passion. So let me tell you my story about Hal. An old-timer, retired woodworker and friend.
Hal owned his shop for 40 years. The time came where he decided he was old enough and done enough and it was time to walk away. To enjoy the sunset of his life and spend time with his wife. So he made amends with all of his customers, sold off most of his equipment, cleaned out the rest and took it home to store it in the garage. And then went back to turn in the keys on his leased space. They did the walk through, everything was fine. He gave the keys back and no longer had his shop. He got in the car and started on his 40 mile drive to his new home. He made it about 400 feet before he pulled over and broke down in tears. He wasn’t sad, he wasn’t upset, and he wasn’t happy or overjoyed he was simply lost. After 40 years he had no idea what to do, where to go, or who he was. He’d lost his passion.
So let’s jump forward a couple of years with old Hal. He’s now a happy, energetic go-lucky type of guy. He bought a new table saw, put it in his garage and now instead of 5 jobs a month, he does 5 jobs a year. Guess you can’t take the man out of the shop, because if you do you’ll break the shop that’s still in the man.
