Have you seen those little solar-powered caricatures that move? Perhaps you have seen them at the floral or toy department in a store. Maybe you have one. We have a solar-powered snowman. He sits on top of our piano by the window waiting for morning to come so he can get started on his day. I get up, start the coffee maker, and open the blinds. The snowman barely moves, much like the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz waiting for someone to pick up the oil can and get him going. I give him a nudge, and he takes off with his happy dance. He smiles all the time, but it seems that his smile is a little bigger after he gets a push ( maybe not, but it makes for a good story!).
I’m sure we can identify with the snowman. There are days we can’t seem to get started,
so we need a little nudge to get us going.
For many of us, our first nudge of the day is coffee. Nothing like a drug to get us started. There are times when coffee isn’t what we
need. We need a human nudger. Who is that for you?
- Only people we trust can nudge us: You don’t want someone you don’t like to come up behind you. An 18 yr old Oregon girl pushed her friend off of a bridge. She fell 50 feet into the river below. She was hospitalized with broken ribs and a punctured lung. Needless to say, that was poor timing for a nudge!
- A nudger will ask permission to nudge. Permission is important. Has your spouse ever volunteered you to do something without asking you first? How did you feel about that?
- Be a sport and don’t be offended by our nudger. Someone once insisted I share my opinion about something sensitive. I didn’t want to do it, but they said, “Please, I won’t be offended.” I shared my thoughts and the next words I heard from the phone earpiece was, “I’m offended by that!”
- We must be willing to follow through on our nudger’s advice. I heard about a small town that hired a professor from a university to come and evaluate their police department. They wanted to dismiss him, but they had no cause. After spending great amounts of time interviewing the city council, members of the police department, and local citizens, the report was finished. The report commended the Chief and said the council should support his efforts. Shortly after the findings were announced, the city council fired the chief anyway.
- Our nudger needs to be wise…at least wiser than us!
- Nudgers will applaud their Nudgees. There’s nothing like hearing, “Well done.”
- Be willing to pay it forward and nudge someone else… and don’t forget to applaud them.
Remember, a nudge can come from your conscience, your
friend, or God. It all comes down to who
you need to listen to in each particular situation.
