Sharing With The Newbie

How much better to get wisdom than gold, and good judgment than silver!

“Yikes! Look at the rain puddling in the canopy of their tent! Um . . . do you think it can hold that much water without collapsing?”

My comment was directed toward Kendra as we huddled beneath our borrowed booth tent at a late-fall outdoor market, peering through the driving rain at the booths and their inhabitants around us. Even as I spoke, we watched several tent owners (including the gentleman I’d noticed) empty pooling water from their canopies, averting imminent collapse but creating an even soggier mess on the ground around them.

A friend of a friend had loaned us her booth canopy for the summer, and we’d been hauling it with us to local fairs and markets as we experimented with selling our books at crafty, artsy venues. Surrounded by lovely neighbors, we’d picked up several tips and tricks and were no longer the newbies we’d been a few months ago.

As wet (yet still fun!) as that last market of the season was, the experience gave us a wealth of information about what to do differently next summer. We made several changes and purchased a canopy based on what we’d learned and seen and heard from the vendors around us.

I’ve been in situations where knowledge was hoarded and used as currency to bring value and advantage to the person with the “insider” connections. And I’ve been the recipient of knowledge generosity—gifted with a list of best practices and pitfalls to avoid by women who are a step or two ahead of me on the same journey.

A younger version of me might have wondered at the assertion in today’s verse that wisdom and good judgment outweigh silver and gold. Still, today’s version of me knows the immense heartache that can be avoided with a well-placed suggestion from someone who has been there and done that.

I owe a debt of gratitude to people who mentored me in my career, colleagues who helped me navigate those first weeks of a new job, and the friend of a friend who lent us her canopy for the summer. And I try to pay all of the good judgment and wisdom forward by doing the same for others.

Julie

Today’s Act of Gratitude

Think of a time someone’s suggestion helped you avoid a pitfall or adjust to a new organization. Pay it forward.