Sometimes when I need inspiration for writing, I go to Pinterest and look up quotes about writing. And sometimes when I should be writing, I go there to procrastinate. Yesterday, I saw this on Pinterest:
That’s not my definition of hell, but the words caught and held my attention. This concept was, to me, like a nightmarish, Stephen King twist on “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Except this version would be called “It’s a Could Have Been Life.” In this version, I could see the person I could have been standing face to face with the person I actually am. I could see myself as the person who read volumes of great literature but never wrote it. The person who fought her way to sobriety but never pursued anything beyond that. The person whose last day came too soon because of poor health choices. The person who let contentment become complacency. The person with unfulfilled dreams. Promises to do better tomorrow. And potential, not purpose.
I can see both of these possibilities from where I stand in this moment. I don’t want to be the person who never lived out my full, God-given purpose. I want to be the person who takes every single opportunity that God gives me to become the woman He created me to be—not a shadow of that person or a well-intentioned imitation of that person.
Oddly, as I thought about this, I thought about my dad. When my siblings and I were growing up, my dad worked at Hewlett Packard. He was a manager in many capacities at HP before he became the General Manager of his branch. Dad often talked about the principles of manufacturing, especially when he saw a way to relate them to us. In the eighties, there was a movement towards lean manufacturing, inspired by the Japanese system of manufacturing called “The Toyota Way.” TechTargeting describes lean manufacturing as a way “to lower defects, eliminate waste, boost productivity, encourage worker purpose and accountability, and promote innovation.” The core of this type of manufacturing is the idea of kaizen—a Japanese word meaning “continuous improvement.” Dad often used the word kaizen to motivate us to improve ourselves or our situations.
A few years ago, I was working on one of my first writing assignments for our family business. Dad had asked me to write some content for one of our websites. I wrote it, emailed it to him, and he sent it back with suggested edits. After a few of these exchanges, I emailed him the document and wrote, “Is it done?” Dad emailed me back within seconds, with just one word in the subject line: Kaizen.
And I remembered. With Dad, a thing is rarely if ever “done”—there’s always room for improvement. It’s obvious how that works in manufacturing. In my opinion, it’s even more applicable to daily life. When I’m feeling motivated and excited, I try to live by kaizen—by not settling for where I am and instead choosing to work towards constant, continuous improvement. When I’m feeling lazy, it’s harder to motivate myself to improve. But if I look down the road a ways, I’ll always choose kaizen. I’ll always choose continuous improvement. If I don’t, I’ll end up some day coming face to face with the person I could have been instead of the unmotivated person I settled for being.
My favorite aspect of kaizen is that it doesn’t require a complete overhaul and massive changes, in manufacturing or in life. On the contrary, kaizen is “an approach to creating continuous improvement based on the idea that small, ongoing positive changes can reap major improvements.” (from TechTargeting) Small, ongoing positive changes—that’s doable. And I know it works because the whole program of recovery is built on kaizen: you make a decision to change. Then you begin taking small but continuous steps, one day at a time, until you realize you’ve made major improvements—you’ve gone from being an addict or alcoholic who’s deeply entrenched in their disease to being an alcoholic or addict in recovery.
I’ve noticed that there are many crossroads in a day—many times when a situation arises and I have to ask myself, Which step will close the gap between the person you are and the person God wants you to be? Which step will improve your life and change you for the better? Which step will take you farther down the highway to hell or farther down the road to redemption? Standing at these crossroads, I choose kaizen. I take the next right step. Day after day, crossroads after crossroads, I try to take steps towards improvement. Mike Bayer, a life coach who’s a consultant on “Dr. Phil,” tells his clients to choose an area in their life that they want to improve, then write down three small, doable steps each day that will take them closer to the change they desire. I don’t think Bayer knows it, but he’s advocating for kaizen. And I like his approach. Three small steps a day for continuous improvement—three small steps in the direction of who God wants you to be—those steps add up, leading you to lasting change.
So what will it be? What will you choose? Complacency is easy. Indecision is easy. Simply letting time pass is easy. But if you want to improve your life, make a different choice. Choose kaizen. Onward and upward, my friends. Kaizen.
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24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
Now, I am no athlete, my friend, so the reference is nearly lost on me in sheer terror of the thought, but Paul must have enjoyed some form of fitness because he references it often. But I can wrap my arms around exercising our spiritual gifts and you are doing an amazing job of exercising yours with this blog! This was just what I needed to read today!
Danine–thank you for the reminder of those verses. I’m no athlete, either, but the essence of these verses is so motivational. Thank you so much for your words–they were just what I needed to read today! Thank you for blessing me by taking the time to write them. ❤
Great post Renee 😃 keep up the great writing!
Grover❤️
Thank you so much, Grover! I will keep it up as long as you keep reading. ❤
I choose kaizen! I like the idea of writing down three small steps each day for improvement. I am going to do that!
I choose it, too. And I think some of our small steps will overlap. Thank you, my Monty. ❤
Renee, I loved this blog post! You are so talented and you write AMAZING posts even when you are suffering from a migraine. I love how you used kaizen- continuous improvement. I like how you related it to recovery, one step at a time and small, ongoing positive changes. Kaizen takes work and you are always having to make a choice, but in the end it is a wonderful thing to know you have improved your life. I can relate this to Weight Watchers, too. I am constantly having to make choices on what is the healthy food choice and I am getting better at making those healthy choices, but it requires my full attention. I love what you put at the end, “Onward and Upward, my friends.” If you look UP, God helps you each and every day. Thanks for such a thought provoking post! Love you. ❤️
Melanie–you’re right about this being applicable to Weight Watchers. Progress not perfection, as we always say. And yes, it does take work. I like what you said about it requiring your full attention. Thank you for reading my words and for being so encouraging. Love to you.
Hello Sparrow. Another thoughtful, inspirational blog. As I have said, your creative, sensitive writings, continue to amaze. Through your health, personal struggles, you hold your head High, and you should. As one goes through life, we make mistakes. But, I try to learn, and not repeat. It is difficult at times, but I regain my focus, and “march on”. I draw on this, through my Mom and Dad. Mom kept my focus, in later years on the Lord. My Dad, a wonderful” work ethic. His proud moments, in his 50’s he got his GED, and became a certified Red Cross lifesaver, I, along with Mom, my brother were so proud, he never have up. Mom never gave up on me. Inam now serving the Lord, My Mlm is smiling down. No, not a completely smooth journey for me, but I have now learned, “hang in”,finish your task, Harold. But, back to your Blog, wonderful Sparrow. Your Blogs, keep me on track, focused, as I continue my journey. Thank you for providing with your words, tye6vact as. a Battery Charger. Onward and forward.When you and I reach the end of our journey, we can proudly stand before our Lord and Savior, and hold our heads high. Keep on blogging Soarriw. ❤️TexGen
TexGen–Thank you for sharing that beautiful story about your dad. Reading it, I could picture his pride and joy and all of you celebrating with him. Doing what he did in his fifties is kaizen, for sure. I see the same thing in you, with your church work and volunteer work. I love your sentence about proudly standing before our Lord, holding our heads high. Thank you for adding your thoughts to mine. I do so appreciate them. ❤