Sarah Adams has held a number of jobs in her life, including telemarketer, factory worker, hotel clerk, and flower shop cashier, but she has never delivered pizzas. Born in Connecticut and raised in Wisconsin, Adams now lives in Washington where she is an English professor at Olympic College. This article was originally published in This I Believe.
SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: What does remembering the fickle spinning of the wheel of life mean to you? Can you share a personal experience of a time when you were able to go beyond thoughts of ownership to allow others to share the space? What lessons from this piece speak to you as a practice for your own life?
Yes, this really reflects back to when i use to be mean to my ex sometimes it's good to have a good heart and forgive people.
I wish I could share this with my brother in law ... He has not worked in 6 years because he thinks he'd have to do a job that is "beneath" him. Are there any jobs beneath any one of us?
Appreciate this article! Thank you!
(Gotta go clean a toilet!)
This is a tough lesson for me, because of the 'pizza due' being very impactful to me. While on my bicycle, i was hit by a speeding pizza dude on a motorcycle and spun around, my bike damaged and some long-lasting injuries. Then the pizza company strung me around for 3 months passing me from store manager to store manager to legal counsel (who yelled at me) ... Dominos definitely does not deliver!
Agree with the 4 points with any 'delivery dude'.
Living in Bangalore, we need to add a point #5. The delivery dudes are taking all the hits so the ordering family can stay indoors and avoid all the traffic and pollution. Now with online shopping and groceries taking off, the delivery dudes are becoming the frontline in facing the worsening environment, as people are pushed indoors for safety and entertainment. Hats off to the frontline!
This seems condescending to me. Implies that no one would really want a pizza delivery job.
This article is a reminder to me of the gift of love that we can give every day and as many times as you like completely free. Imagine that being able to give free gifts as often as you like and at the same time enjoying the karmic returns presented by this universal law. Once started on this path, one sees more than just this wonderful pizza dude that you can give gifts to or would be deserved of your gift of love, and so your influence up-sizes from small to medium to large and to family size with the bonus garlic bread.
Got me to remember how easy it is for me to not notice when "I have become so certain of my ownership of my lane. " And how helpful it is to let go of that thought
Being grounded, being humane is what the article sums up for me. The wisdom is put forth simply to make a beginning with one guy, this time your pizza delivery dude. The only concern I had was the mention of 'pizza delivery' so many times in the article as it brought water in my mouth , I was fasting :)
The pizza wheel of life has many interconnected spokes: honoring work, serving and treating people with equality, courtesy,modesty, humility, self regard and empathy.Our self-worth does not necessarily depend on what work I do but how I do it. Do I put my heart in it? Do I accept it? How do I treat and serve others related to my work? I have been applying this philosophy of living and working to the best of my ability. It has filled the cup of my life with deep contentment, gratitude, empathy, joy and a wholesome sense of my self.Work can be worship no matter where I work and what work I do.How I work, the inner quality of my work, is more important than the outer forms of my work.
May we work with kindness, compassion, dedication, empathy, humility and gratitude!
OH how I loved this! May we all practice patience, kindness, and leave space for all of those who are navigating their way through life the best way they know how, even if that means they use no blinkers. :) The fickle wheel means we remember what comes around goes around and that we do our best to be kind and respect everyone on the journey. I rarely live in a space of "ownership" and am grateful to live in shared space nearly always. Life is so much deeper and brighter this way. We are here to uplift and serve each other and when we do so we all benefit so much more greatly. It is why I share the gift I was given of Listener and Storyteller and sharer of hope and understanding. Here's to us all honoring and respecting everyone on the path no matter what their vocation because inside each of us is a heart. Hugs from my heart to yours, Kristin