Hello! Thanks for checking in again to read about my life this month. And this month isn’t any old month, it’s full of holidays – Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and my birthday! Speaking of which, I turned a cool 24 the first week of December and had a group of prodigious Challenge Detroiters help me celebrate. I sent out a mass message that anyone was welcome to join me for a birthday dinner in Midtown and about ten people showed up and sang me happy birthday and all that jazz. It goes to show what a great group of people the fellowship attracts. What made my birthday night even better was the fact that it was Noel Night. Noel Night is a holiday tradition in Detroit in which hundreds of businesses open up their doors for a few hours and host anyone and everyone to come tour their facilities and merchandise. My favorite was popping into the Green Garage (where I have a work desk) and Shinola which is a nationally known manufacturer of leather items, watches, bicycles, and much more. Side note: Ifeanyi, Kenny, Martha, and myself caroled our little hearts out.
The last two weeks of December have been a bit unusual with the holidays. Everyone has taken off work for family time and vacations which is fantastic because time with family is rejuvenating. For me personally, I am always amazed when I reflect on how quickly each year has gone by when I attend my annual family Christmas parties. More importantly, as I interact with my parents, brothers, cousins, aunts, and uncles, it is a stark reminder of life. I hear old and new stories every year of my relatives who went straight from their schoolhouse to World War II arenas, my grandparents moving up from Tracy and Fountain Run, Kentucky to start life anew in Louisville in the 1940’s, and my parents going through a transition in life for me when I was a kiddo. If they had the courage to make a better lives for themselves and others, I can live my days with a similar attitude.
Speaking of attitude, the last thing I will talk about is a reoccurring thought I’ve had for the past year. The word “just” seems to be widely misused in our society. Most expert etymologists believe the word comes from Old French in which “juste” was used to explain someone or something that was upright, reasonable, or righteous. The same experts generally cite the English adapted the word to mean something was “exact, punctual, or precise”. Both of these historical uses provide great optimistic and significant meaning to this four letter word, yet, our society uses has given it another meaning. While we still use the word “just” to denote someone or something as righteous (not very often though) and we also use it to denote precise amounts of time or quantities, we most often slide it in front of sentences to belittle the importance. How often have all of us said or heard the following dialogue?
Hayden: “What have you been up to, Matt?”
Matt: “Nothing dude, just hanging out. What about you?”
Hayden: “Nice. Just working these days man.”
A few weeks ago I was attempting to obtain some information for a project via the telephone. The worker on the phone told me “I’m just a clerk here, I’ll go ask”. How wrong I thought. This worker is not “just” a clerk. They are a clerk and they should take pride in that. I cannot claim innocence from muttering similar sentences many times in my life. However, I am planning on catching myself in hopes to break this habit. If you concur, join me in this easy self-improvement tactic. Don’t “Just Do It”. Do it. It’s as simple as that.