Consultants

Pete reminded me of a story about a consultant.

A shepherd was in his field with all his sheep, when suddenly a yuppie in a 4x4 drove into his field. He said to the shepherd, "If I can tell you how many sheep you have in this field, will you give me one?" The shepherd, clearly puzzled, agreed. The yuppie got out his cell phone, linked up to a satellite, pushed a few more buttons and came up with an answer. To the shepherd's astonishment, he was right! "OK," said the yuppie, "We have a deal!" and loaded one of the animals into the back of the 4x4. The shepherd thought for a minute, then said , "If I can tell you what you do for a living, can I have my animal back?" Confident that he couldn't know, the yuppie agreed. "You're a consultant," said the shepherd. Dumbfounded, the yuppie said, "You're right. How did you know?" "Firstly," the shepherd said, "You arrived uninvited. Secondly, you told me something I already knew. And thirdly, that's not a sheep you have in your 4x4. It's my sheep dog!"

As from the middle of last month, my life as a consultant has started. I'm working for Schoolnet as Education Officer, with a job description neither I nor any of those I am employed by can really get our heads around. I'm contracted to work 60 hours a month, and I have to log the hours and even minutes I work, and show what I am doing in them. The time sheet is even more stressful than the stress of trying to set up a programme I don't understand, can't envisage and feel completely overwhelmed by. The temptation is to put it all into a neat little box of manageable proportions, but I know there is so much more than that out there, if only I can find the key to unlock it. I dream about Schoolnet membership. I talk about it, scribble notes, and find myself vainly searching the Internet for ideas. I know that it will fall into place in time, and I'll wonder why I got into such a tizz about it. My brain is being stretched beyond what I thought was possible - not since I did my Psychology Honours courses have I felt so mentally and intellectually alive. 21 years in a school doesn't prepare you for horizons as big as this; even when it was challenging, it was still known and comfortable (most of the time)

So what am I learning about myself? That feeling intimidated and inadequate is part of growing. Life is about change and stretching your horizons and feeling a bit afraid. Doing new things and starting a new career at 57 is exhilarating and bewildering. And being comfortable is just a downward path to mediocrity. It was time to start something new. Now, Lord give me strength to do it.