Aftermath

This weekend, I drove up to see our oldest son play baseball and surprise him. In order for me to do that, I needed to use an interstate that had been closed most of the summer due to the flooding from the excess releases of water from a dam further up the Missouri River. As much as I was anxious to see what the vegetation and road looked like after being drowned in water for months, I also was very optimistic. Don't get me wrong, I saw dead trees and shrubs and where grass, weeds, and other native plants once grew, now there was a lot of dirt. A lot. There were farm fields that were still surrounded by a lake of water that had silos and other farm equipment that seemed isolated from any dry land. The life of those living things had been choked out of them. Yet, there is hope. As life does, it will flourish again. I saw the aftermath after devastation. I am reminded about a different kind of aftermath - the kind that comes after preservation of life. When people shine because they get their first job...when people succeed in accomplishing losing weight...when people give their hearts away...when they overcome a fear. People are awakened every day and consciously choose how they spend their day and those special people will leave an impression on you and the aftermath will be what is left. Sometimes, we feel like we have been swallowed by life with the people and events that have led you to today, where ISOLATION has become your friend. Your ONLY friend. But something or someone gets you out of that dark place and you start to see the light that can be you. You start to find HOPE and believe that it will be better. At times, I cannot find the words that I really want to say and I stumble through them with a garbled message that might be a little close to what I intended. It is easy to type words and easy to read them. It is more difficult to say them and hear them. You can create the aftermath that people see when you are not around. You can bring life into something that did not even know it was not living. People will still feel a connection to you that will never go away, despite distance or time. The outcome of what we all bring to this world...this one life in this one world...connects us always and will result in one thing. "People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou. When you impact others' lives, you leave a little bit of you behind with them, and because of that, the aftermath that follows will change everyone else from that point forward.

IGNITE the LIGHT

IGNITE the LIGHT!!! I met up with a colleague last night at a community function and we visited a little about work. He was catching me on the on in a young man we mutually work with and pointed out some changes he had decided to do. Now, this young man always seemed very "unmotivated" but in talking with him more, I think it was more that he did not know how to do some things, and became frustrated when people expected him to do things on his own. He felt silly asking for help, but also needed that same help. (I have been there, done that. Sometimes, I still do it.) This colleague thanked me for perhaps having a hand in getting this young man's perspective to change. Neither of us can say if anything that I said had anything to do with his change of attitude, but my colleague seemed to think so. So, this morning, I was trying to really think about the time I had spent with this kid and look back at what I might have said. Then, I started to remember...I told him that his life and the choices that he makes in it, whether they are easy or hard, have to mean more to him than they do to anyone else. I also reminded him that he is now 19 that he needs to think about his future and find out what he wants to do with with it. But it is up to him, not me or anyone else. But maybe we all (not just me) ignited the light in this kid. My hope is that it continues to brighten each day he thinks about how much his life could be. He will have to work for it - it will not just show up on his porch one day. But I believe in him and the potential yet to be unleashed - he has to believe that it exists. His future can be anything he wants it to be...the LIGHT has been IGNITED...let it glow!

Can't see in the dark

I realize that this statement is somewhat redundant. But, this came to me as I was driving near where Rocky and I walk/run near her house. There is a trail that is about 2.5-3 miles and we go around it twice. I am so used to seeing the "creepy forest" when it is not even dawn yet that it looked different in the day time. There were parts of the trial that I have seen many times in the mornings and again in the daylight, but for some reason it looked different today. I could see thr trail. Now before Rocky gets in a huff - I do not wear my contacts or my glasses when we run, so I rely on her to see critters, spiders, and people as we gradually make our way around the trail. Sometimes, she doesn't see them until it is almost too late and people might run you over. That is what she tells me anyway. But how many of you are trying to look through the dark....even when you have your vision at its best? it is hard, isn't it? Isn't it easier to look through the light? If we are stuck in the dark, why do we pick to stay there? It was like I was seeing the same trail that I have been on so many times but for the first time. It looked familiar, but different. Plus, I was not on the trail this time, I was looking at it from another view almost removed from the times I have been on it. We walk past this sand volleyball pit twice each morning on this trail, yet I never see it. How many other things are right in front of us that we miss? Won't you regret missing it if it means something to you? This life is about no regrets. Open your eyes and see what you think isn't there. Even squinting your eyes doesn't help. The dark keeps things hidden and doesn't allow you to see the true picture. There is more out there...just look for it. Get out of the dark.