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Thought of the Week 9-26-2008

Thought of the Week

“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered.”

G.K. Chesterton

Good News of the Day:
There’s an unusual park in Berkeley, California. Looking at it, “playground” probably wouldn’t be your first thought. “Junkyard” is more like it. And well, that would be accurate. Berkeley’s Adventure Playground is one of a handful of playgrounds in the United States based on a concept that grew in popularity after World War II. During the Nazi occupation of Denmark, the landscape architect C. Th. Sorensen created a new playground with whatever junk was available. It turned out, that’s exactly what kids like.There is no equipment, as such, in the park. Instead, kids are confronted with boards, spare tires, telephone poles, and lots and lots of mud. [ more ]

Be The Change:
The next time you encounter an inconvenience try approaching it in the spirit of adventure.

My Thoughts:
I wonder if what is largely wrong with our world right now amidst market woes and bailout fears is that we have gotten so focused on the here and now that we are missing out on the future and later. It’s amazing to me that many times I miss the bigger picture trying to focus on the minute points. Have you ever looked at a comic strip in a newspaper from very close to your face? Have you seen the small pixels of ink and dots in the print? If you look at it from too close, you will not be able to see the larger picture because your eyes are focusing simply on the dots. Maybe our present circumstance is due to the same issue.

Maybe if we pull back from the issue and allow space, time and perspective, we will SEE again!

I have a handful of ways that we can make ourselves change perspective and I plan to share them here. So, with that said, see what you think…

1 – Instead of watching and listening so much to the media and reading their reviews and go outside for a moment and notice the chill in the night air as we enter the Fall.

2 – Take a walk, holding the hand of the one you love.

3 – Think of ten things that you are thankful for this year.

4 – Realize that the only ones that have your BEST interests are those that love you deeply. And at this point of insanity, TRUST THEM.

5 – Turn of the TV tonight and take a moment looking face to face with those around you.

6 – Fight the desire to act rashly and out of sorts. The next time you feel pressed, take a deep breath.

7 – Take your trip home a little slower today and be sure to LOOK UP at the trees and leaves. Take memory pictures. Make snapshots that will last in your mind for the long-haul.

8 – Do something for someone else and keep your eyes open for opportunities like opening the door and smiling.

9 – LAUGH – Find something to laugh about. IT WILL LENGTHEN YOUR LIFE! And longeveity is of the essence since we all might have to live a little longer before we comfortably retire… LOL

10 – Invest in long-lasting commodities…

I think it’s time for us to start investing in peace, kindness, trust and love. These seem to me to be the ONLY commodities that are endless and readily available to all.

With that said, enjoy the weekend and enjoy the day. And I guess, my last encouragement of the day is for all of us to have a little imagination and hope. At the very least when the day is finished, you are still alive and sharing breath with the rest of humanity and really, no matter what anyone thinks, we are IN THIS TOGETHER for better or worse, we all are sharing this present era.

“You cannot depend on your eyes when
your imagination is out of focus.”

— Mark Twain

Adjust those imaginations. Tomorrow will come. And when it does, it comes knocking at our door with inconveniences that are adventures in disguise. Adjust your focus so that you can see it!

Have a great weekend and next week!

pd

Dustin Hedrick

Thought of the Week 8-26-2008

Thought of the Week 8-26-2008

“Strength does not come from physical capacity; it comes from an indomitable will.”

Calendar on my wall

The Olympics really stirred something in me. It’s this concept of “Will.”

Will is an interesting thing to me. On the one hand, Anna (my baby) totally frustrates my when she has a strong will and will not listen. (She has learned so many things like how to discreetly place tomatoes and other slimy foods on my arm and watch them slide into my lap during meals). Of course, if you are a parent, you have heard of or read books about “the strong willed child,” which are often filled with ways to break this will.

However, there is another kind of will that is inside of a person that is very important to keep in tact. My wrestling coach in Middle School used to say, “Have heart boys… When you are down, and you have all but been pinned to the mat, it’s ‘heart’ that will drive you to roll over and get up.” He used to yell, “Come on, it’s time to show me some heart!” It was at those points I would really put up a fight. You know, there were many times that I didn’t win, but I didn’t give up either. As I have progressed through the years of school, sports, work and life, I can still hear coach yell at different times in my ear, “SHOW ME SOME HEART!”

Today is one of those days. When you see things that you have leaned on, people you have entrusted, situations you have planned for disappear, leave, or change; it’s at those moments that “WILL” really shows up.

I wonder if I would still be using a candle if Edison had given up after the 100th try at the light bulb, or what might genetics would have been like if Mendel had given up experimenting on peas and honey bees because he couldn’t get the results he wanted from the first four plants and trials. I wonder what music would have looked like had the Beatles given up after the first label turned them down. I wonder what art would be like today if van Gogh had never acted out on his heart for the artistic, because his religion did not approve.

I wonder what would have happened to freedom had a few colonials not hung out at George Wythe’s house, framed an idea and signed a paper. I wonder what would have happened if Abraham Lincoln would have given up after he lost his first election, or if Annie Sullivan had not forced a little blind girl to behave and “feel.”

What do you think would have happened to Civil Rights had Rosa Parks not “brought it to the front of the bus” or if MLK had not “Had a Dream?”

In every one of these stories, I can hear some coach somewhere saying, “SHOW ME SOME HEART!”

Without this “heart,” this “will,” where would we be today? I guess the question today is, “Will we continue? Will we have the will? Will you show some heart?

I think today, I will dig in and show some heart!

I challenge all of us to do the same! No matter your challenge this week or in the future, if you haven’t had a coach yell it at you before, hear me yell it to you today. “COME ON _______, SHOW ME SOME HEART!”

Today, I leave you with a few quotes by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (A hero who showed us all “some heart”);

“A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan.”

“A man who won’t die for something is not fit to live.”

“Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.”

FROM THE “I HAVE A DREAM SPEECH”:

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I just want to do God’s will. And he’s allowed me to go to the mountain. And I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the Promised Land! I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the Promised Land.”

Have a wonderful week!

dh

Dustin Hedrick

Operations Manager

Burt Associates, Incorporated

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.