If you really think about it times aren’t that bad
The one that stretches for success will make you glad
Stop playing start praying, you won’t be sad
It’s like that (what?) and that’s the way it is
Huh!-
“It’s like that” by Run-DMC
I say it, I do it, and therefore I am it. I am amazed that for the past three years, I have worked for the Big Red Machine and it has been quite the ride. This past Monday, I watched one of the best wrestlers ever, Triple H, come out and say that he’s seen them all come and go but he’s outlasted them all. I kind of feel like a Triple H as I see no challenges but I still try my best to pass on the knowledge that I have gathered while being there. Whether they like it or not, the more mistakes you make the more experience you’ll gain. I still make my share of mistakes but I try the best to minimize them. I now think back that these past three years I have been with this company and I love the fact that I have learned so much from this place. When I first started working there, I was shy and really moody when it came to work. I believe the reason that I was like this was because I hadn’t really been in a working environment and I was trying my best to impress my peers and bosses. I tried my best to interact with people but I could see that only one guy would give me my chance. This guy was cool and sort of cocky but he took me under his wing. After a few months, I changed my tone and my working style as well. I tried my best to become less stressed and focus on becoming friendlier with people as well. The best gift that the Big Red Machine gave me was the ability to interact with a good pool of talent and observe anywhere from 20-50 different personalities in my time there. I’ve seen guys that love sports and when they love sports, I discuss sports with them as we did our best to get our work done as well as being able to discuss life problems, issues, pay, work, and gossip. I interacted with personalities that taught me a lot and I am thankful for that. I have had my mentors, my brother types, my buddies, and people I am indifferent towards. I am most thankful for the brother types and also my mentors. What I learned from each of these people was that no matter the circumstances, never change. Sometimes, it is necessary to have to change your personality for certain people but whenever I talk to somebody at Big Red, I have learned that it is best to stay relaxed and not to lose your cool. I have given the best I could almost every night, and it doesn’t matter who is working or who I’m working with, I have given it the best no matter the circumstances. Even though I do it less so now, I used to complain a lot that I didn’t have enough money to go hang out with my co-workers and my friends after work and I did end up spending tons of money on food, far trips away to cities here in the bay area, bowling, pool, crazy driving around to these random places, and so forth. I don’t regret many of those trips because I got to understand that some people are sent here to us for a reason, whether it be good or bad. I would get paid and then go deposit my check the next day, which would result on me spending anywhere from 10-40 dollars in one night or multiple nights. I would spend my money because my buddies had the money, so why shouldn’t I have the money. Other times, I would do so to fit in. I gave every last penny just so I could feel good about sharing food with somebody or compromising with a few co-workers in order to play poker or play monopoly. There is something about sharing food with somebody or playing a game with somebody that brings it together that is hard to imagine. I remember numerous times, I would share food with a co-worker of mine and early on when we were getting to know each other, we would go out to eat every night. That is one of the strongest gifts, big red has given me and I miss it at times but nothing is meant to last forever. Even playing poker taught me that these games are seen as nothing more than a money driven game, with the strive to be the best. I am glad I got to do these things because nothing beats learning and making mistakes. Working with older people, I gave them the benefit the doubt about who they were or what they were about. Two of my mentors there, one of whom still works there, I particularly saw them as sharp and very quick witted. I remember talking to both of them very much and I saw them as wise for the age that they were both doing the job. Here I am, at 20, 21, and 22 and I am hanging with this guy in his mid-30’s and another turning 50, learning every little thing I could. I learned that these guys had years of experience and the relationships I established with these guys had me feeling that human communication is essential in life. Nobody learns this world of experience from just sitting in a room as my friend said a month or two ago. I learned from the guy in his mid-30’s that no matter how old you are, it is never too late to get a new start in life and staying optimistic is a key to staying young and looking young. I learned from my other mentor that we were like father and son in another life (at least from my point of view). He told me how he had lost everything, his family, his daughters, his jobs, his flooded house here in this area, and most of all he told me some of the biggest mistakes I was making at work were serving as a lesson. We got along so well and we still do, as we are so alike in so many things as he still gives me advice, gives me his opinions, and we treat it like no other. Most of all I have learned about success and failure. My Economics teacher in high school said something that still sticks out in my mind and that is you have to realize when you have been beaten. My failures have ranged from failed attempts at trying to get with a number of women there, feuding with co-workers over petty issues, being cited for not performing for how I should have, being called out for small things, and many other things. What I learned from each of these experiences was that it matters a great deal how others perceive you but reaching out to others and asking for feedback is the most important thing you can do as it allows for a test of what you can do in the next time. I would ask people as to why I wouldn’t be recognized enough or why I wasn’t getting the accolades I thought I deserved at the time and I would never get a clear answer. But I asked myself, is it really worth it to keep asking why I wasn’t getting enough love at work? The first time I got my review there, I was discouraged easily as I didn’t get the raise I thought I deserved. I kept my head up and then I realized that giving all this effort had to involve me putting talent over, helping others, being a better communicator, being more of an asset, and also being there when I was needed. I was glad that I did this because working with all this new talent after about a year made me realize that teaching people is something we should all strive for. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Chris Jericho once said that if you teach somebody ten things and they take one of those and implement one of those then you’ve done your job. I’ve given advice to people, worked with people on different work styles, given motivation, and the energy has to be there for there to be any sort of interaction. I can say that is the one that I’ll take the most with me as I head into my time remaining at Big Red. To end this, I want to give a special shout out to my niece Jazmin as she gave me reason for hope as she is growing pretty fast and I recently saw that she has started doing some walking as she went walking towards my mom.
Stay tuned for the Next blog:
The Elimination Chamber from Oakland this past February 20, 2011
with Pictures:)
Just Another Day... 