CoffeeTime: “THE OLD GOAT”

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The elderly president had been with the company for so many years that no employee there could remember a time he wasn’t slumped over his desk, muttering about the ineptness of the younger generation.

It was true, he was extremely knowledgeable of the company and all it provided for the business world, but it was also true that he was very disliked. Detested and avoided like the plague, but yet, almost indispensable.  Much like the air in the office, or the light coming from the florescent bulbs hanging from the ceiling. Always needed and always there. Wouldn’t lift a hand to help anyone else with their work – but always loyal and committed to the company.

Another old man was in another office of a different company. He too had been employed there since Moses was floating in the river. And he too knew it all. Thru the years there was no position that he had not worked and mastered. But there was an enormous difference. He was admired and respected.

That man was also in The Chair, governing that company with an iron fist in a velvet glove. Every policy change. Each major decision. Any variation in the direction the company would be heading – the old gentleman was vitally involved. Nothing happened within those four walls that he did not know about before it came down the pike.

But this leader was respected, feared, revered, and beloved. The O.G. The Old Goat. A man who had been thru the price wars, the terrifying financial woes of the Great Depression, the fluctuations of inflation, and a fire that once had burned the office building to the ground. As the years passed, he moved slowly up the corporate ladder, until finally he attained the coveted status of O.G in The Chair.

What a difference in the two men. Same age. Equal opportunities within their companies. And yet, such a different outcome at the end of their lives.  One man put in his time, learned all there was to learn about the company, and allowed those years to make him become bitter and resentful. As a result, his physical presence was studiously avoided as much as possible by everyone. The other man also put in his time, learned all there was to learn, but respected his fellow workers. He finally ended up affectionally known by the employees as the O.G. In The Chair.

The game-changer? Attitude.

Life is difficult, we all know that. Everyone one of us face enormous problems as the years roll by. But if you allow yourself to become resentful without finding a way to deal with your feelings, then that anger can easily turn into depression. Which, if left to ferment, becomes bitterness. And there is a large chance that as time rolls on, you probably will be known unaffectionately as ‘that old goat’ rather than the G.O.A.T.

Your choice.