We were very silly last weekend at the Great Tomato Stomp at the Leamington ONT Tomato Festival! A team of crazy friends including my husband Kermit entered the contest and won by creating the largest amount of tomato juice by stomping two crates of whole tomatoes. Twelve teams entered. It was a blast.
What can we learn from such silliness? I came up with a few life lessons:
- Find the fun in whatever you are doing. We drove 50 miles to a community festival celebrating the humble tomato. We saw a parade, visited booths and met really nice people. Who would have thought we could have such fun! Who ever heard of the Tomato Festival!! What have you done recently to have fun wherever you are planted?
- Play well with others. Our team won by a landslide this year but it is important to be nice to everyone. We want everyone to have a good time too so we had to be considerate of others and include as many people as possible in our fun. Networking involves give and take. You have to have a great reputation for playing well with others. Do you help each other and involve other people in your search?
- Depend on other people to achieve your goals. You have to hold on to each other to survive five minutes in a slippery plastic swimming pool stopping on juicy tomatoes. How are you using your friends, colleagues and acquaintances to achieve your goals?
- Be creative to come up with unique solutions. The winning team created the most juice so the team came up with a great way to strain out the solids. The solution complied with the rules but turned the circumstances to our advantage. Are you considering ways to use the job search “rules” to your advantage? Maybe going around barriers instead of waiting for permission?
- Look beyond the “ickiness” to your goal. Stomping tomatoes with bare feet feels kind of icky. But that icky feeling is a necessary part of the process. Job search has its own ickiness – occasional loneliness, a little fear. But without that ickiness you will never get to the other side to find the job you want.
- Get right back up when you fall. Crushed tomatoes are slippery. A participant or two slipped and fell in the goo. But they got up and continued on. Most teams clasped hands or arms to stay vertical. That was part of the fun! What are you doing to stay vertical and on course?
- Be a good sport and leave a good impression. No one likes a bad sport. Double check your attitude at the door. Be open, friendly, smile a little. Be gracious in victory and open in defeat.
Stay active and alert for opportunities for fun wherever you are! The chances are there if you look. Every adventure takes you closer to your goal.
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