Randolph the other Reindeer: A Story about Commitment, Responsibility, and Integrity
Unlike Rudolph, Randolph was a very welcome reindeer from the start. The others always invited him to play. Randolph brought a lot to the games. He was sharp, talented, and funny. Randolph was very popular and had a lot going on. He was always really busy. In fact, maybe he was too busy. He had many different games going and a lot of plates in the air. At times he just was not sure which ones to spin. He seemed to lack focus (or at least didn’t know what was really important.) He could easily be distracted by a new game across town.
Although the reindeer wanted him to be in their reindeer games, they willingly let him disappear and go off with the penguins and polar bears and what not. Randolph had a whole other life (if not lives) going on. The reindeer took what they could get and realized Randolph wasn’t a player for only their team. And that was okay by them. They enjoyed his company when he was around.
Randolph made so many commitments that he had a hard time keeping many commitments. One day, the other reindeer cornered him on this. He got a little huffy, but then agreed to make a commitment to be there on the following Saturday. Like so many other times, as soon as he made the commitment, he got an invitation to do something else—this time it was an invitation to a fabulous black tie and tux penguin party. He immediately got mad at the other reindeer and said that he’d keep the Saturday commitment only because he knew they’d be mad if he didn’t. Once again Randolph was not taking responsibility and choosing his actions. Instead he held his friends accountable for what he was doing and for his choices.
Randolph was also really preoccupied about making the rent for his lavish new barn. This gave him a perfect “out” every time because he would say he couldn’t show up and “play” because he had to work and “make the rent.” This sounded really good and reasonable, and it was, but it also meant that Randolph couldn’t play in the reindeer games. And that was his choice. He also sure had a lot of work to do around that new barn. That was another big commitment.
Randolph had a “clever” habit of waiting for just the “right” time to say something.
Typically he did this because he wanted to break some sort of previous promise or commitment. He was very smart knew how to leverage logic and circumstances to explain why he simply “had” to change his mind.
What’s even worse, when Randolph did show up, he became no fun at all– rushing the other reindeer around and telling them how he had several other places to go and other things to do and other animals to see. He would also complain and whine and moan. The reindeer felt bad and did not want to play. They felt like their games were unimportant to Randolph. Randolph had seemingly better (or at least more pressing) things to do.
Also, for some reason, Randolph did not communicate what was going on in his life or when he would be totally unreachable. A few times the other reindeer called and found out in an “oh by the way” fashion that he would be gone from the North Pole for an extended period. “That’s odd”, they thought. “I guess he really doesn’t care about what we’re up to or letting us know where he is or how to get him.”
The reindeer soon started to talk about Randolph. Donner, the leader of the reindeer, went through some hard times thinking whether he should cut Randolph adrift and exclude him from the reindeer games. After some thought, he decided that no action was really necessary. Randolph was already “taking the actions” and “actions speak louder than words!” He knew that one always gets exactly what one is shooting for. (That’s how Donner knew that his reindeer would always win. Because he was clear and committed to what he was up to.) He saw that Randolph was not clear and truly committed. Randolph often rode the “wave” of circumstance rather than having a mission or goal. Donner knew that if you “don’t show up,” you disappear. It just happens that way.
Soon, the other reindeer couldn’t count on him. They kept inviting him for a while, but after so many no’s, rejections, and let-downs, they just stopped.
Randolph pretty much disappeared completely. The others didn’t even see him in passing. They didn’t see him around town. They never got phone calls. This wasn’t a surprise. They knew they were not a part of his life. Randolph had moved on to other more posh games. They missed him, but they honored Randolph’s choice.
In an amazing turn of events, the Reindeer Games were added to the Winter Olympics which were to be held at the North Pole! Suddenly, Randolph showed up as if everything was the same. For Randolph it pretty much was. He exclaimed his usual routine about being a team player and how much he had done for the games. But now, the other Reindeer were phenomenal game-players– World Class. Randolph was not up to speed. He could not be a part of the team.
To everyone’s surprise, he blamed everybody for ousting him. The truth was: he ousted himself. He made the choice (although it was done so unconsciously that when the wake up call came he accused everyone else of excluding him.) Now he demanded to know how he fit in. And of course the other reindeer didn’t know how because it was he that chose not to fit in. How could they be responsible to choose for Randolph?
So in the end, it wasn’t that the others wouldn’t let Randolph play in any reindeer games, it’s just that Randolph was never around and no longer qualified. Magically, the universe did deliver exactly what he focused on, including that new barn. So, it wasn’t all so bad. We always get what we ask for, and if we aren’t clear in the asking, we end up with confusion, non-clarity, loss and a vague position in the scheme of things. Sometimes we strike out at others and accuse them of betraying or rejecting us when it was our actions that created the situation. We end up thinking ourselves to be the victim of other’s choices, when really it was our (possibly subconscious) choice all along.
Commitment is a powerful tool. It’s especially powerful when refined and focused. Truthfully, one cannot be over-committed for as soon as one starts “committing” to too much, several “commitments” will fall through; so, in fact, one is not committed at all. One cannot “pretend” to be committed or feign commitment. Commitment starts with your word, your pledge, your promise, and it is only “made true” (verified) or manifested by your deeds, your very actions! Choosing everything is not really choosing at all. Choose wisely! Get definite.
Rene: Another Reindeer
Once the Reindeer games hit the Olympics, Reindeer games became a huge commercial endeavor. Million-oats careers were made. Reindeer games were a national North Pole Pass-time. Leagues became business. Every now and then there was a super-star. Rene (another reindeer) was one smokin’ professional reindeer gamer. Rene, like all of the other reindeer, was under contract to play. The reindeer contracts really didn’t have much legal mumbo-jumbo in them. Pretty much the contract was an agreement, a promise, a declaration of intent to play the games to the best of one’s abilities.
Being the star player that she was, Rene was always being asked to make appearances and do commercials. She even got a movie deal! Soon she was unable to make every appearance she promised to make, including the reindeer games. Living in a bit of denial, she actually thought that it would be possible to go from the movie set, to the games, and then make an appearance at a new theme-park. The other reindeer remembered the days of Randolph, but unlike the days of Randolph when the reindeer were getting together just for fun, they could not just let it be okay for Rene to show up when she wanted to. The stakes in the new games were high, and all Reindeers were held to their word. Once Rene was out of integrity, the other reindeer had to be responsible and communicate this to her. Rather than admitting she made a mistake and asking to make a new agreement, she lashed out. Her first strike claimed that she was by far the best player on the team. She went on to condemn little Rupert who was just a rookie reindeer. Before she was finished she made sure that everybody knew why it wasn’t her fault that she had so much to do. She even told Santa that “kids today” have toys that are far too heavy. Well this story is a lot shorter than Randolph’s story. Do you know why? Yep. They fired her. Oh, they truly wished her the best of luck in Hollywood, but they simply could not play high-stakes reindeer games with a great player that just could not be counted on.
We later tracked down Rene painting her nose red and portraying another more famous Reindeer’s life story in an off, off, off Broadway production that was only showing every third Friday on every second month, maybe. Call ahead to check.
The morals of the story: Be aware. Be responsible to others. Choose wisely. Keep your word. We always get what we create, whether we (think we) want it or not.
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