When I orignally sat down to write today's blog, I was going to talk about the progress I'd made this weekend editing Staked!
That topic is definitely much safer than the one on my mind. As I've intimated, 2012 has been a year of upheavals, some good, some bad, and some that resemble one or the other and turn out to be opposite. My battle cry has been, "I'm on an adventure!" And indeed, I am.
Instead, the Herald News had run another story on my son's project to create a computer lab for a small private school, and my muse spun back around to adventures.
http://heraldnews.suntimes.com/news/17921864-418/area-computer-whiz-is-paying-it-forward.html
As the mother of Channhon Computer Repair's owner, I'm of course fairly jumping and down with pride (the good kind) for him, but really, it's the story's underlying message that's got me excited, since it's absolutely laced with good will from idea conception to the point in the action where Christopher now finds himself.
Meaning, he's not yet done, far, far from it.
Rather, the greater amount of work is ahead of him, and there will be no adrenalin-high glory pushing him through it. Hopefully, though, the knowledge of where he's come and the long-term difference he's making in these children's lives will continue to glow inside him through the entire project and provide the highest form of satisfaction, greater than any public accolade could possibly give.
That was not the case when the first rush ended. I'm referring to the day of the actual recycling event, when the last car had departed, and an exhausted Christopher was sitting in his office surrounded by an overwhelming amount of recycle, about three times as much as he'd collected from any community recycling event he'd overseen for other companies. He was now, all by himself, personally accountable for doing something with each and every piece, as well as the less than happy reactions of other members in our household who are stepping over and continually negotiating each and every piece.
It's easy to be enthused about an idea, a project, a job, an organization, a cause, or a relationship in those early stages when the effort is less than the sweet candy rewards that are bestowed. However, as many prospectors know, to get to the real gems, you have to mine pretty deeply. It's a lot of effort. No wonder so many people give up long before they reach the finish line.
So, yes, while it's tons of fun to be written up in a newspaper, enjoy the response of people rallying to your cause with their donations, open cards from schoolchildren praying for your success, and feel the thrill of finally setting up those computers (once they are all built), the truth is that Christopher will spend many, many, many laborious hours, stripping equipment, testing equipment, and building equipment before finally disposing of most of that equipment in an ecofriendly and responsible manner.
Some people might not find it worth it. Their loss. They'll never taste the fullness of the reward. They are not the ones you want around on your adventures because I'll guarantee you, despite their words to the contrary, every time trouble looms, a misunderstanding occurs, communication breaks down, the road becomes treacherous, the horizon is dark, or a particular situation does not work out according to plan, they'll bail, leaving you to carry on by yourself.
Because, just as Gandolf assures Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit trailer I posted yesterday, adventures, by their very nature, change you. As the saying goes, if you want something you've never before had, you have to do something you've never before done, and that includes learning new behavior patterns for new situations. If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen. If you want certainty, don't play in uncertainty's backyard (That last one's mine; like it)? New wine doesn't belong in old wine skins.
But if you take the common, well-trampled road, I promise you, you'll wind up with common, well-trampled results and miss the best life has to offer. Remember that the next time you're tempted to abandon something you've worked so hard to only partially attain.
Push ahead.
Move forward.
Stay the course.
Unfortunately, success is not promised if you do. Failure, however, is guaranteed if you don't.
That topic is definitely much safer than the one on my mind. As I've intimated, 2012 has been a year of upheavals, some good, some bad, and some that resemble one or the other and turn out to be opposite. My battle cry has been, "I'm on an adventure!" And indeed, I am.
Instead, the Herald News had run another story on my son's project to create a computer lab for a small private school, and my muse spun back around to adventures.
http://heraldnews.suntimes.com/news/17921864-418/area-computer-whiz-is-paying-it-forward.html
As the mother of Channhon Computer Repair's owner, I'm of course fairly jumping and down with pride (the good kind) for him, but really, it's the story's underlying message that's got me excited, since it's absolutely laced with good will from idea conception to the point in the action where Christopher now finds himself.
Meaning, he's not yet done, far, far from it.
Rather, the greater amount of work is ahead of him, and there will be no adrenalin-high glory pushing him through it. Hopefully, though, the knowledge of where he's come and the long-term difference he's making in these children's lives will continue to glow inside him through the entire project and provide the highest form of satisfaction, greater than any public accolade could possibly give.
That was not the case when the first rush ended. I'm referring to the day of the actual recycling event, when the last car had departed, and an exhausted Christopher was sitting in his office surrounded by an overwhelming amount of recycle, about three times as much as he'd collected from any community recycling event he'd overseen for other companies. He was now, all by himself, personally accountable for doing something with each and every piece, as well as the less than happy reactions of other members in our household who are stepping over and continually negotiating each and every piece.
It's easy to be enthused about an idea, a project, a job, an organization, a cause, or a relationship in those early stages when the effort is less than the sweet candy rewards that are bestowed. However, as many prospectors know, to get to the real gems, you have to mine pretty deeply. It's a lot of effort. No wonder so many people give up long before they reach the finish line.
So, yes, while it's tons of fun to be written up in a newspaper, enjoy the response of people rallying to your cause with their donations, open cards from schoolchildren praying for your success, and feel the thrill of finally setting up those computers (once they are all built), the truth is that Christopher will spend many, many, many laborious hours, stripping equipment, testing equipment, and building equipment before finally disposing of most of that equipment in an ecofriendly and responsible manner.
Some people might not find it worth it. Their loss. They'll never taste the fullness of the reward. They are not the ones you want around on your adventures because I'll guarantee you, despite their words to the contrary, every time trouble looms, a misunderstanding occurs, communication breaks down, the road becomes treacherous, the horizon is dark, or a particular situation does not work out according to plan, they'll bail, leaving you to carry on by yourself.
Because, just as Gandolf assures Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit trailer I posted yesterday, adventures, by their very nature, change you. As the saying goes, if you want something you've never before had, you have to do something you've never before done, and that includes learning new behavior patterns for new situations. If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen. If you want certainty, don't play in uncertainty's backyard (That last one's mine; like it)? New wine doesn't belong in old wine skins.
But if you take the common, well-trampled road, I promise you, you'll wind up with common, well-trampled results and miss the best life has to offer. Remember that the next time you're tempted to abandon something you've worked so hard to only partially attain.
Push ahead.
Move forward.
Stay the course.
Unfortunately, success is not promised if you do. Failure, however, is guaranteed if you don't.
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