As Jeanne walked through the atrium of the corporate office for a 7am meeting, she was surprised to see one of her staff looking contently at one of the paintings on display. Luke was a “diamond in the rough” who Jeanne had taken a chance on hiring. Luke was brilliant but didn’t fit the model of other new hires. He came from a small rural community and had a brilliant college education with minimal exposure to anything outside of his technical courses. Luke’s interest in the atrium art was a pleasant surprise to her.
Later that day Jeanne casually mentioned to Luke that she saw him in the atrium before work. Luke’s response was one that validated her decision to hire him.
Luke: I find art to be very stimulating. It’s something that I never had exposure to before. I study one painting each day because I find it fuels my mind before I begin work. I look for inspiration from what the artist is telling me. Often I’ll be able to think differently about a problem after I’ve spent some time with a painting.
Jeanne: Wow!! I’m seeing a new Luke. I would never have expected hearing something like that when we hired you.
Luke: I know, I’m afraid I was very one-dimensional. My hopes in life were very limited. I’ve elevated those hopes now.
Jeanne: Very nice! What’s created your desire to transform those hopes?
Luke: Not really sure. You may not be aware of this, but I’ve always enjoyed reading biographies of people who made a difference. One thing that struck me in reading these is how much their hopes in life changed as they grew older. That’s when I realized that our hopes shouldn’t be static.
Jeanne: Luke, you have taught me a lot in this brief chat. You’ve also inspired me to think about my own hopes.
As Luke says, hopes are not static. They need to be elevated as we go through life. In some cases those hopes will be broadened, as Luke’s were. In other cases, our hopes may need to be deepened as we surpass our original hopes. Is there a process for elevating hopes? There may be, but it is likely to be different for each of us. Some people may set aside a particular time of the year to reflect on their lives. For others, we may be stimulated by some occurrence. And for others, it may simply begin when taking a shower. Whatever the process, the key is not falling into the trap of being content with the hopes we have.
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“Elevate. Each day, live to elevate yourself, each day elevate one person. Make elevation your religion and you shall reach infinity.” – Harbhajan Singh Yogi