Hustle Me, Baby

There are some who say Orson Welles is a cinematic genius.

He fought a drawn out battle to get his film "Citizen Kane" shown in enough theaters to break even, against an empire of people who did not want it shown.  Eventually it produced modest returns, but far short of expectation, and for awhile it faded into artistic obscurity.  Since then, critics the world over have hailed it as one of the greatest movie works of all time.

Out of frustration over the battle, he remarked that film artistry is "about two percent movie-making and ninety-eight percent hustling."  The rest of his life he struggled to get his vision across with projects that never quite panned out, many of them ending up in disaster.  He swam in debt continually.  A talented genius, he never fully mastered the business side of his work.

Very often in business I used to hear people say "Don't bother me with the details, I'm a big picture person."  They use creativity and talent as an excuse not to do other things necessary to succeed.  While it is true that delegation can be a secret to success, one still has to take the time and make the effort to oversee and manage what is delegated.  In short, one must hustle, regardless of vision.

I saw a movie once, where a salesman spent a lot of time sitting at the bar despondent about his lack of success.  "Oh that's easy, sugar..." said the cocktail waitress.  "Like my granpappy used to tell me, if you want to hustle up the honey, get out and hustle, honey."

Wisdom in The Men's Room

During a visit to a local grocery store, I went to the bathroom.

Prominently on the wall, hung one of those decorative plaques with a motivational quote.  The plaque read, "have faith that service rooted in good character will yield the best outcome."  I assumed it was mainly for the benefit of the employees, but after pondering it for a moment I realized it could benefit a more general audience as well.

In addition to the surface meaning about work and business there is deeper, more spiritual and universal meaning.

A common theme in many mystical traditions, as well as the writings of Catherine Ponder, is that to begin receiving you must start giving.  In fluid mechanics this is known as "priming the pump."  You send material through the front end of the device to create movement that draws material back out the receiving end.  Spiritually you do this by sending out good into your environment persistently, and in time good comes back to you.

"But that's just it," some people say.  "I lack so much, I have nothing to give."  Catherine teaches that if you look around yourself and look within yourself long enough, you will find bountiful good to give.

I find this to be true in my own experience, many times over.  For example: one time I was out of work, with a questionable work history and some burned employment bridges behind me.  I had almost no cash I could tithe to my church, much less meet my needs and pay my bills.  Going on what Catherine taught, I made this plan and stuck to it for weeks:

• I prayed, affirmed, and visualized that I could find or be given things I could use for sending good out into my environment.  I asked for guidance in finding opportunities to serve people.
• Every chance I got, I would perform small random acts of kindness I noticed could be done for someone.
• If I had a little extra of something I was using or eating, I shared with others wherever I could.
• I said prayers for specific persons, asking they be blessed in ways specific to their needs.
• I worked on forgiving people.  (As much of a crank as I am sometimes, this was a real hard one for me to do. To this day there a couple of things I struggle to forgive, but God is helping me to do it.)
• In tiny amounts, I still contributed cash to my church, even though it wasn't a full tithe at the time.  I released the funds into God's hands, I let Him be the Judge over how they were used,  and I spoke words of forgiveness for anyone who might misuse it.
• I gave away or donated things around the house I didn't need but were useable to others.
• I reached out to people who were down and lent them my shoulder or my ear.
• I performed small tasks for others to help them in whatever ways they needed help during their day.

The rest, as they say, is history.  After a lengthy search I found a job that I enjoyed doing for quite awhile after.  People stepped forward unexpectedly and gave me help in all sorts of ways, financially and logistically.  During this process, I kept up my trust in God and kept persisting.  My efforts paid off.