Mother Teresa, CEO by Ruma Bose

Author:Ruma Bose
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
Published: 2011-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

THE TERESA PRINCIPLES

Embrace the Power of Doubt

• Embracing doubt can be very powerful

• Use doubt to gauge when to check in with your organization and yourself

• Express your doubt without communicating fear

• Embed the power of doubt in action

CHAPTER FIVE

Discover the Joy of Discipline

The miracle is not that we do this work,

but that we are happy to do it.

MOTHER TERESA

RUMA’S STORY: It was the same every morning. The alarm would ring at 5 a.m. and my battle with the snooze button would begin. How much I valued those extra moments of sleep! I would lazily walk into the kitchen, boil water on the gas stove, pour it into a bucket of cold water, and use a jug to bathe. It was invariably 5:40 a.m. before I rushed out the door to make it to 6 a.m. Mass. Most days I was late, and one of the sisters would usher me into the back of the chapel. Mornings have always been stressful for me.

Over time, I improved. The snooze button remained my friend, but I became better at managing myself, and then a funny thing happened. The anxiety-filled ride to the motherhouse became a peaceful one. The rising sun burned off the fog; the sounds of distant morning prayers murmured through the air as shopkeepers prepared to open up on the footpaths of Lower Circular Road. I began to enjoy Calcutta for its raw beauty, in those brief twenty minutes before the cacophony that defines this city began. When I saw the big red tax building, I knew I was thirty seconds away from my destination, and I sat back, took a breath, and looked forward to the day.

The discipline and focus with which Mother Teresa lived her life were exemplary. She and the sisters were up at 4:40 every morning and assembled in the chapel for morning prayers by 5:00. Next came Mass, which volunteers and outsiders were welcome to attend. Everyone sat on the floor, sisters on one side, visitors and volunteers on the other. A few electric fans stirred the humid air. Despite the minor hardship, this eventually became my favorite part of the day. There were people from all over the world and all walks of life. On any given day, I might see a Swedish volunteer sitting next to a Japanese tourist, a Brazilian family of five, an Indian maid, a child from the slums singing at Mass, or a priest in training from Italy. There was a beautiful feeling of togetherness. A simple breakfast of chai, white bread, and bananas followed. We sang devotional songs, said a prayer, and then, by 8 a.m., dutifully went into rush-hour Calcutta for a bus ride to our “jobs.”

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