June 2, 2013

• "A" For Penmanship

  I looked over to a coworker's notepad during our annual planning meeting earlier this week.

  He was a highly regarded colleague, very well respected in the organization.

  However, his penmanship was less than impressive.

  "So what?" I thought to myself. 

  So what if he has ugly handwriting?

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  When I was in elementary school, scoring good grades in my handwriting assignments was a big deal.

  I still remember the pencil markings off the dotted and solid lines.

  It meant the world to me when I scored an A, and it saddened me when I realized that my classmate scored an A+.

  ------

  Years later, looking at my coworker's less than spectacular handwriting, I marveled at how much I used to care about something that does not really matter.

  I was graded for good penmanship, therefore, I was conditioned to care.

  But, looking back, who cares?

  ------

  As an adult, just like how I was graded on good handwriting, I'm graded on many things.

  May I have the wisdom to differentiate between things that matter and things that don't.

  To the 6 year-old Ling, good penmanship was a big deal.

  It is not.

  • 11:19 pm
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