“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.
I was having a conversation with a cousin recently and the concept of being indispensable came up. She told me about the poem above and I knew I had to write about it. I smiled when I read it because the way the write of the poem drew the analogy to water made it so in your face. I idea that anyone is indispensable is laughable. No one is indispensable in any way, shape or form. No matter how you think you are a part of any organization you can be replaced. This is one of the reasons that major organizations always have a succession plan. Anything can happen. It’s something that many persons don’t understand because in their mind they are the be all and end all of that organization.
When my mother died the organization that she worked for replaced her rapidly it might have taken two persons to do what she was doing but she was replaced. No one is indispensable. She knew that and it was something that must be accepted.
I however have an uncle that thought the exact opposite. In his mind he was indispensable and no one could tell him otherwise. His reason was just plain arrogance. No matter what anyone said he would have a counter argument to that. Well I will have you know when the powers that be decided to get rid of him he realized what others had been saying. You are not indispensable even if you own the organization. I have seen this so often. People strutting around as if they are cemented in a company because in their mind the company can’t do without them. Because as we know “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry” famous line from Robert Burns poem To a Mouse.
I have seen throughout my life that when you realize that any number can play and you can be replaced a the drop of a hat you don’t walk around with the chip on your shoulder. You work with the universe and don’t struggle against and fight it. After all we are a microcosm of something larger than ourselves. We have to accept that fact and work with it.
As the poem indicates you should think of the water as what is happening around you no matter how much of a ruckus you make life will always go back to the way it wants. It will be like water and do what it wants. You can’t leave a hole in a bucket of water because it’s not possible and similarly you should know it’s not possible to become indispensable. Life doesn’t allow it.
Let me know what you think, I really want to know and I sure others do too. Try commenting 👍🏽, but if you are not comfortable, reach out to me via any medium. Your comments let me know how you feel and very often give me a total different perspective on the topic. It could also spawn another blog. 😉. And you can never tell your comment might help others.
Always remember life is for living and you must always live your best life. #lifeisforliving #liveyourbestlife #gratefulforlife #faithgreaterthanfear
See you next Wednesday at 8:00 pm, Bogota time.
I would love it if you would say something, anything and tell someone. 🙏🏽

