I know I’m not the only one that’s ever faced a challenge. From my current perspective, I really don’t have much to complain about. Life has been more than fair…I’ve got a great job, an awesome wife, three sons that I could not be prouder of. A professional career that has blessed me with more opportunity and rewards that I could ever possibly deserve. And yet my challenge is not small, but it can’t define me. We have some awesome friends and neighbors, that are pushing me not to let this consume my life, as there were times lately when I thought it would.
Things have been gradually improving, and I’ve had some
conversations with other friends in the industry that are facing the same types
of challenges, including one of my closest friends in the technical world that
also one of the best role models and dads that I could ever hope to live up to.
But it’s never the same when it’s you. That mortality that you never think
about slaps you in the face, and you finally start to gain what you
need…perspective.
Perspective is all about how YOU view things. It’s personal.
It’s alignment. It’s yours alone to deal with.
After 36 years of being in this industry, it’s now about
wrapping this part of life up and seeking completeness. About finishing what
you start and reaching those goals. But if you give up too much of life for
work, and not for taking care of the rest of life that surrounds you, then you
lose it. Your perspective.
At first, when I started thinking about this class, it was
originally supposed to be something simple. It was about how Revit changed my
perspective, and how about the “views” were simply reflections of the model we
define. It didn’t matter about your point of view, you were really always
looking at the same time. So it was supposed to be about different ways to use
the view to change your perception of your design, and to introduce new ways of
looking at views in a Revit model to create a more complete view that
understandable to those who consume it.
Sounds rich, doesn’t it?
February 24th was interesting and challenging
day. I spend about 30 minutes at Novant Health hospital in Bolivia, NC. They
had just installed the latest GE CT scanning device and was only one of two on
the east coast at the time. A CT scan that normally took about 45 minutes to
conduct only took 5 and was over before you knew it. And my warped mind at the
time was thinking about AR and VR…and how cool my “reality” had become
“augmented”. But I was more impressed with how quickly the technology has
evolved, within my own lifetime. The ability for us to see inside walls from a
design standpoint has always seemed like a dream, but here I was seeing inside
myself and gaining a perspective that I had not seen before. And it all seemed
so…casual.
I had my first meeting with a pulmonary doctor that
explained what a lung nodule was, and how it impacts your health. The shape was
good news, but the size was concerning, so the next step was PET Scan, which I
had already scheduled for the same day. Same technology but now we’re making me
glow in the dark like a uranium popsicle.
February 26th, we’re on our way to dinner when we
get the call. Not malignant are the key words to hear. There’s still
some work to do, but at least that specter of treatments I was preparing myself
to face was going to have to wait another day. There was some celebrating to
do, and Mr. P’s in Southport was the best place to do it. Thanks to an awesome
waitress and staff, it was great day and date.
It was April and I wasn’t getting better. I finally got back
to my favorite nurse practitioner (the real hero in my story, and one that I am
indebted to), and started some treatments for pneumonia which has finally
cleared everything up. Yesterday, I met with a new pulmonary doctor that laid
out a clear plan for addressing all of the items I needed. She helped to
restore my sense of direction and goals and gave me back some faith that I had
lost.
And is faith that helps you get through times like this. I
was raised in a Presbyterian church, where a key tenent is the belief of predestination.
That everything happens for a reason, and we are placed here to be in services
to others more than self. I’ve had to hand things back to God, and relinquish
that control that I wanted to maintain, but never should have in the first
place. Everything that has happened in this story is what should have taken place
and has reminded me to be more aware of what others might be going through as
well.
I mentioned in the last article that I was working with our leadership
team to understand why we were getting held up in our digital transformation in some areas from a 2D to 3D environment. One of the tasks I have been working on is interviewing
all of our facilities group’s production staff and helping them establish
learning paths and goals to improve, refresh and refine their skills. The key
element has been the one-on-one interview with each person in the team. I had written
an article here last year about OWNing your training – where you have
the opportunity and addressing both the want and need of a
professional career and taking the personal responsibility we all have for our
successes in life. It was a perfect time to put this concept into action.
The cool part? I’m getting to meet and know people on an
individual basis. We are talking about their excitement and passion for what we
do. We’re catching up on how their kids are doing…listening while they talk
about taking care of a parent that’s not doing as well…hearing how they have
wanted to take a different career path but never knew what was available…and
how they have overcome adversity in their lives. The courses that they are
taking are their own choices that they are buying into.
I’m actually making more friends, and it’s making our
connection more personal. Are you willing to do this with your coworkers and
colleagues? How much do you really know about them? Do you know their dreams,
their hopes, their challenges?
And I realize that I am the one being schooled, and learning.
Serving. Helping. And doing what I am supposed to be doing in this chance you
get only once.
By now, the burning part about getting this class out of my
head and on paper was reaching a new urgency. I didn’t want the story to fade
without being out there so others could learn what I had learned. That
perspective in design is a critical thing. So how do you achieve it? How does
it alter what you do? And how do you help others find it?
That part is next. And you were a big part of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment