There is a tide in the affairs of men./
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life/
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,/
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures./
Emma Garner 1965
Actually as I was to learn later this little ditty was not the original work of Aunt Emma.
What she said actually was:
" There is a time and tide in the affairs of men/
that taken at their crest can lead to fortune/
denied bind us in sorrow and misery. / "
English is a foreign language you know.
The first quote of course is Shakespeare and predates Emma quite a little bit, But she lived it and taught me to live it, at least to some degree. And so it is. Some men are born to fame and fortune/ some achieve it/ and some have it thrust upon them.
Emma said that too.
For most of us opportunity bounces off our chest on national TV leaving us famous for the unexpected perfect pass in the super bowl game of life.
We all have that once in a lifetime opportunity. An opportunity that for some reason we were just not expecting. We prepare for it. We go to school for it. We pray for it. and when it comes we say " What the heck is this?" Too comfortable in our shallows to cut the ties that bind us from our fortunes.
Right now there is a man down field in that game of life in Louisiana. A man standing in the shallows watching the oily tide come in.
You may think I am talking about Hayward's replacement Bob Dudley.
I am not.
I refer instead to the talking orange Polo named Darryl Willis.
I fear that Willis is in just such a place in his life. A place where his choices and his decisions will determine how long and how well he lives and serves on this earth. Certainly how his tombstone is inscribed and how he will be remembered by history.
Hayward will be forgotten next week. Dudley may well be gone before that. But the man who writes the checks to the people will be remembered forever. Those who have suffered loss of livelihood in the gulf will tell stories for generations.
Darrel Willis is born in the south and bred in England. He takes his tea hot and his biscuits cold. However, His blood is the blood of the people he is appointed to serve.
I would caution Darrel to fear God more than BP. Respect his elders and his ancestors, and make this decisions based upon what is right and morally responsible to the people instead of what is good for his boss and shareholders.
It will be hard. He will be denied and it will cost him his job. But he has the opportunity to go down in spoken history of the people of the gulf as the man who saved the gulf. He can choose greatness. Or he can choose to live in the shallows and retire from his desk job in Houston.
Darrel Willis is at a crossroads.
Choose wisely Darrel.
Make sure you catch this ball Darrel.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life/
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,/
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures./
Emma Garner 1965
Actually as I was to learn later this little ditty was not the original work of Aunt Emma.
What she said actually was:
" There is a time and tide in the affairs of men/
that taken at their crest can lead to fortune/
denied bind us in sorrow and misery. / "
English is a foreign language you know.
The first quote of course is Shakespeare and predates Emma quite a little bit, But she lived it and taught me to live it, at least to some degree. And so it is. Some men are born to fame and fortune/ some achieve it/ and some have it thrust upon them.
Emma said that too.
For most of us opportunity bounces off our chest on national TV leaving us famous for the unexpected perfect pass in the super bowl game of life.
We all have that once in a lifetime opportunity. An opportunity that for some reason we were just not expecting. We prepare for it. We go to school for it. We pray for it. and when it comes we say " What the heck is this?" Too comfortable in our shallows to cut the ties that bind us from our fortunes.
Right now there is a man down field in that game of life in Louisiana. A man standing in the shallows watching the oily tide come in.
You may think I am talking about Hayward's replacement Bob Dudley.
I am not.
I refer instead to the talking orange Polo named Darryl Willis.
I fear that Willis is in just such a place in his life. A place where his choices and his decisions will determine how long and how well he lives and serves on this earth. Certainly how his tombstone is inscribed and how he will be remembered by history.
Hayward will be forgotten next week. Dudley may well be gone before that. But the man who writes the checks to the people will be remembered forever. Those who have suffered loss of livelihood in the gulf will tell stories for generations.
Darrel Willis is born in the south and bred in England. He takes his tea hot and his biscuits cold. However, His blood is the blood of the people he is appointed to serve.
I would caution Darrel to fear God more than BP. Respect his elders and his ancestors, and make this decisions based upon what is right and morally responsible to the people instead of what is good for his boss and shareholders.
It will be hard. He will be denied and it will cost him his job. But he has the opportunity to go down in spoken history of the people of the gulf as the man who saved the gulf. He can choose greatness. Or he can choose to live in the shallows and retire from his desk job in Houston.
Darrel Willis is at a crossroads.
Choose wisely Darrel.
Make sure you catch this ball Darrel.
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