The Walk

Sometimes I feel like talking about recruiting. After all, it is my profession and I truly love what I do. I like talking about trends, recruiting topics, and sometimes I just like to vent about what happened with candidates and managers. That being said, there are only so many things you can talk about in recruiting. Recently, my eyes have begun to glaze over as the same topics are hashed over and over. I am human. I do have feelings. Every one of us have feelings. We are all on this earth together.

No, I have absolutely no desire to talk about recruiting or anything remotely revolving around recruiting today. I wanted to talk about a topic that we all have in common. Today, I want to talk about life. The circle of life and a moving event that happened to me on Saturday night. This is without a doubt the most personal blog I have ever written.

Saturday was my 40th birthday. Yes, it was on my birthday, but before dismissing this post, there is a much deeper meaning than just my birthday. The weekend was great. I celebrated with my friends on Friday night. A good time was shared by my all. We could have done anything, but I wanted to go to a local pub called "The Tavern". The Tavern has been renovated and to give you an idea of how long it has been around, it has a sign that says "Air Conditioned" outside of it. A good burger and those tables that you take a knife and carve your name into is what it is known for. I had probably 30 people there, and most of them were at Laura and my wedding in 2006.

Time has flied since 2006. It is rare that all of us get together that often. Life gets busy, and we all have excuses. We all made an effort to get together on Friday. My good childhood friend Jason Romano and his wife Rene drove in from Houston and stayed with us for the night. As my wife and I looked around the Tavern, both of us looked at each other and realized how much these people meant to both of us. Not everyone could make it that night, but it was a good showing.

Life is funny isn't it? We are all here and we look for these relationships in life. My wife, my best friend, the mother of my children, and the love of my life and a few close friends are what are really important to us.

Later on in the weekend, my parents called and wished me a happy birthday also. They asked us to go out to dinner at Lupe Tortilla which is one of the best new Mexican Restraunts in Austin. My wife, kids, brother, sister-in-law, and their kids, and my parents were all there. Once again, a great time. My whole world was in that room.

We came home, and I had a little 40 "blues" and our new dog Dixie needed to be taken out for a walk. I looked at my son Trace (William King Thomson III) and asked him if he would walk the dog with me. He is 1 1/2, and speaks a little, but he understands a lot more. He looked at me and said "uh-huh". This was unusual because he really needed to go to bed.

Trace and I were dressed identical. I had a White and Blue Striped Shirt and so did Trace. He held my hand tight and we walked down our street Miss Julie Lane. Miss Julie Lane is a short street, but long enough for me to embrace the moment. The moon was full and the stars were shining bright. Trace had been fussy all night long, but not on this walk. I looked at him, and began to tear up. I said to him "I love you" and he looked at me and said something that sort of sounded like I love you also. He knew.

It had been a great weekend. I had everybody that I love with me and in the end that is all I really want anyway. Life is one big circle. We realize what is important to us. As I grow older, I look at my son and see me in him, much like I see my father in myself. I realized at that moment what we are all doing here on this Earth together. Jesus had his arm around me and I knew he was present.

We all get wrapped up in our lives, and daily activities, but there is a plan. A bigger plan for all of us. The walk helped remind me of that. I think we all could be reminded of that and why we are here and what is important to us. Thank you, lord, for the time you have given us and help us embrace every moment we are together!

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Comment by Amy Ala Miller on January 31, 2013 at 12:33pm: Awww, that was lovely Will!! :) thank you for sharing and Happy Birthday! My baby is 7 and comes up to my elbow... he's going to be very tall I think. They're getting so independent but every once in a while he'll leap at me (almost knocks me over), gives me a giant hug, and says "I love you SO MUCH Momma!" reminds my why I put up with all this crap lol.

Comment by Will Thomson on January 31, 2013 at 1:11pm: Thanks Amy! Just had a moment and wanted to share. We do work hard, we tend to lose ourselves sometimes in our jobs. Just wanted to write something that was different than what we read every day here on RecruitingBlogs that someone else may be able to relate. Recruiting is what I do for a living, it doesn't, however, define who I am as a person. There are more important things in life.

Comment by Amber on January 31, 2013 at 1:49pm: You're getting sentinmental in your old age, Will! :) The last few years of being self-employed have really changed the way I view "work" vs. "life". I'm glad you're getting to see this now while you have young children.

Recruiting is what I do for a living, it doesn't, however, define who I am as a person. There are more important things in life. I don't dwell on the past, but sure wish I had been able to see and do this back then. I'm sure most people do relate to this, thanks for posting.

Comment by Will Thomson on January 31, 2013 at 3:32pm: Thanks for the comments Amber! Love it, old age. I swear, I hated bringing up the birthday thing again, but that is when it happened. I certainly don't want to wake up one day and say, I wish I had done this or done that. What you are longing for is right in front of you, just need to take a step back and pay attention to it. Never too late to change.

Good grief- yea too sentimental. So- the 49ers or the Ravens. That is more like it. Ray Lewis should be in Jail, not playing for a SuperBowl. :)

Comment by Sandra McCartt on January 31, 2013 at 4:32pm: Had to smile at this post. After 36 years this year in this industry it hit me that i have been a recruiter longer than some of you have been on this planet. Scarey isn't it. There was a time early on when recruiting was all i thought about, all i talked about, went to bed thinking about, woke up thinking about. As the years passed i realized that recruiting or perhaps any vocation that a person loves and does well with is the just the vehicle we drive through life that gets us from one day to the next. One year to the next and gives us a great deal of satisfaction as we look back at the lives we have touched, the thrill of each placement and the abject despondence of the ones we lose.

My youngest child turned 49 this year. We were laughing not long ago that what he hates the worst about his position as a tax director with an oil company is recruiting new people. After all he grew up with it from the time he can remember, recruiting bought him his first car, sent him to college and in fact his mother the recruiter lauched his first job.

His comment was, "One would think that having lived with recruiting my whole life i would breeze right through just finding a few tax accountants a year, i don't know how you do this crap every day and how you know which ones are going to be the good ones." " I guess that is why you were so adamant that i get a degree in accounting where the numbers do not lie or change their minds."

As of this week, my grandaughter age 29, who just finished her degree is joining me as a recruiter and will take over marketing and corporate services. Maybe this stuff just skips a generation.

As to being 40 Will. Trust me, it used to irritate me when my dad told me i wouldn't really have any sense until i was at least 40. When i look back it is more than true. So congratulations, you just got old enough to have some sense. Perhaps it shows in this post. Amazing that two things happen at about 40. The world seems to fall into perspective and anybody who says their vision didn't get a little sketchy about 40 is lying and you will find some reading glasses hidden somewhere in their desk. I still don't wear glasses to drive but those little cheaters come in handy when i read a resume. Laugh while you are thinking , naw, not me. You can laugh again when you start holding things closer to your nose or way out at the end of your arm or starting to read the paper standing up with it on the floor. But see at 40 you can laugh and admit it. At 39 you would have choked first.

Comment by Will Thomson on January 31, 2013 at 5:57pm: Thanks Sandra for your response! We need people with your experience in this field! 36 years is something to be proud of. No reading glasses yet & I still have a full set of hair. :) Life couldn't be better!

Comment by Valentino Martinez on January 31, 2013 at 6:43pm: Great post, Will—

Powerful photo of you with your son and your observation about getting a perspective of what you do for a living and what is important beyond that. Faith, Family and Friends are critical in appreciating and finding a balance. And Happy Birthday - getting to 40 is a milestone of sorts and you’ve done it.

The number 40 is meaningful for me as well. This year I’m going on 41 years in recruiting and can’t seem to kick the habit.