Adam King Studio Fine Furniture & Antique Restoration

photo courtesy of robpatrick

Well, the day started out pretty great. A lot was accomplished this morning, lunch was good, and we were anticipating making a delivery this afternoon. We loaded the van, hit the road, and were off. What a day! Driving down the highway with gorgeous weather, things seemed right. As we pulled away from the delivery, the van cut severely to the right. Hmm. Bad road? We turned a corner and again, it suddenly swung to the right. Ok. Maybe the tire is bad. That would be an easy fix. We pulled into a service station and that's when I noticed smoke coming from the right front tire. Brakes. I just had them replaced not too long ago! The mechanic confirmed that the right front brake had seized up and we certainly wouldn't be making the twenty mile trip back to town in the van. Thankfully, we found a ride back, and now I get to wait and hear what the final damage is!

We arrived back at the shop several hours late. Well, it is a nice day, and it does stay light longer, so how about a little overtime? I turned my attention towards a current repair project, while my assistant (whose name is Adam as well) decided to make some progress on one of his personal projects. He had resawed some nice spruce and was anxious to get the pieces book matched and glued into panels. He started up the jointer, and went to it. Well, long story short, he's still learning the nuances of this machine. He soon realized he might be better off planing these pieces by hand! I was going to have him do this soon as an exercise, so why not now? So, again, he went to it. I heard the familiar sound of the hand plane gliding across the wood. He planed, checked for flat, then planed again. Soon, the board was moving from 5/8" to 3/8"! As he struggled to flatten the first piece, I also heard some familiar sounds, coming from under his breath! I was looking over my shoulder to see how long he would continue this process. Finally, he made it through his first piece. It seemed flat, and was still a workable thickness. Then something happened that really caught my eye. Instead of lamenting the whole process, and moving back to machines, he picked up another piece and went to it! He put his head down and began the process all over again! Soon, he had all four pieces flattened by hand and glued up into panels! When I went through this very same procedure in school, it took me two weeks of working off and on to get my first board flat! This guy just did four in a few hours!

What impressed me the most, wasn't how quickly he picked up on the process, it was how he responded to the difficult and discouraging circumstances put in front of him! He put his head down and worked through it. This was desire in action. This was dedication. This was one of many lessons learned - for both of us. How am I going to respond to the challenges I faced earlier in the day? Am I going to shuffle my feet and wonder, "Why me," or am I going to just turn my focus to the projects ahead despite the occurances of the day? Well, when the student has becomes the teacher, is there really a choice?

Our responses to the good and the bad, help define our perspective on life as a whole. How we act (not react) after seemingly "bad" things happen can determine our outlook and performance in the long run. Do you instinctively respond negatively, or blame something or someone other than you for your mistakes? What if you, instead, began to look at these situations as opportunities to learn? These can be tremendous and precious chances to learn, to grow, and to mature. Why waste them with self-pity, or anger when you can become a stronger and wiser person? Life's lessons can be small or big it doesn't matter. What does matter is whether or not you are paying attention.

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