Today I came across this simple
poem - “My Wage,”
I bargained with Life for a
penny,
And Life would pay no more,
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store;
For Life is a just employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.
I worked for a menial’s hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life,
Life would have paid.
- Jessie Belle Rittenhouse (1869–1948)
And Life would pay no more,
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store;
For Life is a just employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.
I worked for a menial’s hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life,
Life would have paid.
- Jessie Belle Rittenhouse (1869–1948)
Call from friend
Since I am always blamed for under-selling my services, I was mulling over the essence of this poem.Just then a friend, who was my colleague in an earlier company, called. He used to be Head - Global Business Development for our company's flagship software product. He set up the entire online marketing mechanism in place. It took him an year. He learnt the nitty-gritty of online marketing from scratch and set-up a team of different profiles. I knew he was on a good wicket and acquiring an experience which employers will find of great value.
Since I am always blamed for under-selling my services, I was mulling over the essence of this poem.Just then a friend, who was my colleague in an earlier company, called. He used to be Head - Global Business Development for our company's flagship software product. He set up the entire online marketing mechanism in place. It took him an year. He learnt the nitty-gritty of online marketing from scratch and set-up a team of different profiles. I knew he was on a good wicket and acquiring an experience which employers will find of great value.
But when I met him recently,
after a few years, he said he had left that job and was running a small
business of placement. I was amused, but since he was a smart operator, I was
sure he will be a success.
But that amusement turned to
sadness today, when he asked me to bail him out of his financial mess by
referring him to some possible employers. He was ready for any job!
The net take is -
Everybody knows a round plug goes into a round hole.
But decide what sort of plug you are - round or square.
Everybody knows a round plug goes into a round hole.
But decide what sort of plug you are - round or square.
When one can’t define himself, he
presents a garbled message to the world. So, even if he has some ideas and
skills for which there may be a market, people are not able to slot him into a
role and give him work.
"We choose our playground"
I was once talking to a famous Tamil movie Director, who also used to act as hero. During the conversation, I found him to be a mediocre guy creatively. I thought to myself ,many of the Art Directors and copy writers in advertising agencies will be far ahead of him in their creative bandwidth and more sophisticated in presenting their ideas.
I was once talking to a famous Tamil movie Director, who also used to act as hero. During the conversation, I found him to be a mediocre guy creatively. I thought to myself ,many of the Art Directors and copy writers in advertising agencies will be far ahead of him in their creative bandwidth and more sophisticated in presenting their ideas.
Then I asked myself 'How come
this Director has made crores while the talented Advertising people make a few
lakhs in their entire lifetime?"
It struck me that we choose the
playground... and we play the role we have visualized.
So, there are 2 dimensions to our growth -
1 - Identifying where we are naturally strong and becoming a marketable expert in that.
2 - Identifying the arena where we exhibit our expertise
1 - Identifying where we are naturally strong and becoming a marketable expert in that.
2 - Identifying the arena where we exhibit our expertise
Otherwise as the poem says above,
one may end up asking just for a penny and the world pays you just that.
There is a touching but extreme
visualization of 'The Wage' here at Zen pencils
……………………………………………………………………………………………
SreeRam is a marketing
communications consultant and owns NATHAN’S MEDIA GROUP at Chennai, India.
In his free time SreeRam teaches KravMaga self-defence to Civilians, Police and
Security. Those activities can be seen
at KRAVMAGA CHENNAI
