The Job, the Guard, and the Path

The gate guard approached me as I requested entry into a lodge just outside Johannesburg. The Isiphanga on his wrist gave me a clue that he was probably Zulu. But what I noticed most was his bearing. Royal. Proud. Masculine.

His face would make da Vinci weep because even he would never be able to capture its essence – strong, noble and beautiful. His muscles rippled through his uniform, his forearms … tempered steel. This was a bull in his prime. This was a body not manufactured in a bottle or at the Planet Fitness and Virgin Active. No, it was honed to near-perfection in the harshness that is called Africa.

He’ll eat Beckham for Breakfast

As I drove up to the lodge I thought that this guard could easily be on the cover of GQ and would have modelling agencies lining up to get him on their books. I’ve no doubt that he’d eat sports models like Beckham, Nadal and Ronaldo for breakfast.

I was saddened for him because I thought, “He’s just a gate guard and he’ll never get that opportunity.”

Then I paused (whenever I say “just” alarm bells and my judgement detector comes on) and thought about my arrogance and presumption. I’ve more than once written that our job description doesn’t define us and that it’s the inner work sorting out the head, heart and soul that defines us. I’ve also, on numerous occasions asked the question, “Who’s to say that the beggar on the street hasn’t already found the right path whilst I’m still distracted by stuff outside of me?”

I guess that I’ve still got a lot of work to do to sort my thinking out because I’m still not getting it.

Keeping up with the Tshabalalas, Joneses and Visagies

How arrogant am I to think that this gate guard hasn’t found his path; a path with heart. What gives me the right to want ‘better’ for him? Who’s to say that he is not better off than me in a million ways as I try and accumulate stuff so that I can keep up with the Tshabalalas, Joneses and Visagies? Who’s to say that he’s not spiritually a billion miles ahead of me and totally at peace with who he is and comfortable with his contribution to this world?

I have a notion that we (or maybe just me) take our failed dreams and try and foist them onto our children and others. Hey, we justify our intentions by saying things like “I just want what’s best for him”, “I want her to be the best version of herself” and, “He can do so much better”.

I think we’re sorely mistaken if we think that our job description or choice of career defines who we are. We expect accounts, lawyers, doctors, pastors, managing directors and presidents to behave ‘just so’.

Monsters

This is patently false. If we seriously think that every physician is true to the Hippocratic Oath, we’re delusional. Take the Nazi doctors Josef Mengele, Aribert Heim and Carl Clauberg … all monsters (and ‘monsters’ is not even a fit word to describe them because it’s too soft). So, don’t presume to know what goes on in your kindly GPs head, heart and soul.

Do we really think that we know what’s up with our religious leaders? So, many have fallen in countless ways. How often can they get away with “the Devil made me do it”. Maybe, they’re just soulless, bad humans that make choices that they are totally responsible for. It’s just an easy out for them to blame an ‘outside force’ for the evil that sits in them.

So, next time you see someone, don’t define them by the job they do. Don’t judge nor revere them because you’ll never know what’s really going on with them where it counts … in their heart and soul.

And, don’t feel sorry for anyone, be it beggar or priest, because they may have found their path with heart whilst you and I are still stuck in the undergrowth trying to hack our way out.