LIFE IS A CIRCUS!
May 1, 2018
As a young boy, I got excited when the circus came to town. The anticipation would start when I would see the colorful posters on buses and telephone poles announcing its arrival. At school, the kids would all be talking about it, creating a great hype. I seldom got to go, but each year I would get very excited about the circus.
Like me, you have probably heard others make the statement “my life is crazier than a three-ring circus.” In the past when I heard this, I would typically listen to the speaker’s story and go on with whatever I was doing without thinking about “a three- ring circus.”
Recently I finished a book entitled “Quicksand” by Henning Mankell. He set me straight on why we all should want our lives to be like a circus.
When a circus is operating correctly, there are all sorts of exciting things taking place with great precision. All of the performers are focused and engaged and the people observing from afar are mesmerized. A circus demonstrates what humans are capable of achieving and maintaining with strict discipline, training and lots and lots of commitment. Isn’t this true for businesses and life in general? Just like in life, sometimes things go wrong in the circus. The lady on the flying trapeze loses her grip, the elephant poops at the wrong time or the lion fails to roar on cue. However, even when things go wrong, the show goes on. The focus is on the good things but the less than good things are usually quickly addressed. These principles also apply in the business world. For long-term survival, businesses need to constantly elevate their performance and tweak their strengths as they strive to elevate the satisfaction of their audience, their customers. Businesses should continually evolve without departing from their core missions.
I don’t know about you, but I will forever miss the excitement of knowing the circus is coming to town. Thinking about it, I can smell the animals and taste the cotton candy and candied apples. As in life, a successful circus is full of action coordinated to achieve a great outcome, even when things go wrong.
I accept that life is a circus. It is my goal to execute all aspects of my life as a three-ring circus. Just call me Bozo!
May all your days be coordinated and executed as well as a three-ring circus as you touch lives and create smiles!
Written by KING AEROSPACE Founder, Jerry Allan King-Echevarria.