When I heard the words of this poem, they were in the form of a song.
I am sure when you read them you will agree they certainly hit a note.
The Indispensable Man (by Saxon White Kessinger) Sometime when you're feeling important; Sometime when your ego 's in bloom; Sometime when you take it for granted, You're the best qualified in the room: Sometime when you feel that your going, Would leave an unfillable hole, Just follow these simple instructions, And see how they humble your soul.
Take a bucket and fill it with water, Put your hand in it up to the wrist, Pull it out and the hole that's remaining, Is a measure of how much you'll be missed.
You can splash all you wish when you enter, You may stir up the water galore, But stop, and you'll find that in no time, It looks quite the same as before.
The moral of this quaint example, Is to do just the best that you can, Be proud of yourself but remember, There's no indispensable man.
Sometime when your ego's in bloom.
Ahh, the mighty ego.
Our ego can be our saviour or our downfall.
My ego has made trouble for me on more than one occasion and yes, I have felt very proud of myself, particularly when I was young.
We are all cut from the same cloth, walk on the same earth, breath the same air, and feel the same emotions, why do some lives vary so drastically from others? It has become important for me to take stock of my life and to ascertain what I intend to give back to the world.
Being far too busy concentrating on making money to maintain a certain lifestyle led to tunnel-vision thinking, cutting me off from the wonder of life, it was time to take notice.
I made the choice to rid myself of this old way of tunnel-vision thinking, however other people in my life are still using thought patterns that I have managed to change.
Because I no longer have a 'normal' job, people are commenting on my new lifestyle.
They are puzzled because I have chosen to step outside the corporate box, they are finding this difficult to comprehend.
That is the crux of the matter for me, as I cannot avoid other people's questions, understanding that I do not need to think the same as they do, or indeed live the way they are living but equally fit into society.
This takes me back to being a child.
I did not fit in at that stage either.
As I was the only girl with four brothers and the boys had to deal with aggression from my father, I sat outside of their 'gang'.
I did not fit in - and I was of course female.
This impacted upon me, however at the time I did not understand - my answer was to have my hair shaved short and arrive home and announce "now I can play cards with you" only to see the look of horror on their faces.
I was trying to feel important; my ego was trying to bloom.
This was never going to happen in our household, I continued through life trying to be important to someone in my little world.
It is only recently that I have concluded that being important to others, agreeing with their opinions is not a priority.
I certainly stirred up the water galore in order to placate my ego in my early twenties, but looking back the water splashed back onto me.
When I leave this world, I understand that there will be a small hole for a time.
It is what we do to enhance others and their journey, the real work of why we are here; I believe that is how we are measured.
Take a bucket and fill it with water, put your hand in it up to the wrist, pull it out and the hole that's remaining, is a measure of how much you'll be missed.
Make a splash, make it a good one, if it is big enough then some of the water will overspill from the bucket and remain on the ground - this is your legacy, this is what will remain far, far longer than the hole in the water, this is what will enhance people's lives through you having been here.