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200 words, Alberta, Calgary, Conviction, courage, Diana Schwenk, Diana's Enormous Book of Quotes, embarassment, good work ethic, grateful, growing up, Guilt, hard work, humility, integrity, joy, kindness, life, memories, passion, pride
If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.’
When I moved to Calgary in 1990, I accepted a housekeeping job at a hospital.
I was so embarrassed by this job, when people asked what I did, I said I was an environmental engineer, which is what they called my position, and then quickly changed the subject before they could ask what that was.
I hated working there, so I cut corners and consistently scored low when my employer did surprise quality control checks.
But I started to feel guilty. So I decided to be grateful that I had a job, many did not, and I cleaned each room as if the next patient was Jesus.
A funny thing happened.
I began to take pride in my work.
I did little extras for patients.
I consistently scored 100% when my employer did surprise quality control checks.
~ DIANA’S ENORMOUS BOOK OF QUOTES ~