Kids play, Water pumps

I had a stressful week; thus I need a completely relaxing weekend of "not thinking about work," but pondering more about life instead.

And I'm glad to say that I had the inspiring weekend that I was yearning for.

I took a bus and went straight to a unique coffee shop, called Pangea (Pan-jee-ah). It is the kind of cafe that brings together cultures and traditional crafts from all corners of the world. (a similar idea as the Ten Thousand Villages shops). Pangea is an educational retail shop and cafe that features high quality handcrafted products made by artisans in developing countries.

I entered the cafe with the thought that a good coffee and crafts would soothe my exhausted mind. In fact, I gained more than I had wished for.

Coffee was ordered with a nice sized chocolate muffin. The cashier told me that the chocolate muffin was a good choice, and I smiled and told him that I needed something sweet. Proceeding to the wooden four-seat tables, I started to sip a medium cup of coffee and closed my eyes.

My worries about work started to haunt me. My workplace is in a transitional stage. I am in the position to facilitate that transition and am also in the transition myself. I am worried whether I will do a good job in trying to implement the changes that are necessary. I am worried that people will not be receptive and understand about the changes, especially people who have been with the organization for a long time. I am worried that ...

I walked around the shop, listening to the native live Peruvian music. I told myself to drop all of those worries.

I went to the restroom and was in awe of the big poster in front of the door. It said, "kids play, water pumps." The bright poster had a picture of African kids moving the big wheel, as a switch for the water pumps. As the kids play with it, the clean water is pumping toward the villages. I kept reading the description and standing there in awe.

There are lots of people/organizations out there in the world, trying to implement changes. I assume that we are all facing a certain level of frustration and confusion. In the end, we need to remind ourselves of the things that matter the most.

I realized that my worries are small in comparison to the worries of the poor families of the world

who don't always know where to get the next meal or where to find clean drinking water. I want to be like those kids, playing and letting the problem spin itself until a solution comes out.

Thanks to the world, I felt inspired by that poster, "kids play, water pumps." My worries have melted away.

TAN