Tag: achieving goals

Here Be Dragons

Color Photography

Disclaimer- the later portion of this article uses the real life example of experienced Native American Alligator Wranglers. I am in no way encouraging a novice to engage in combat with a dangerous predator.

In the days before the internet I was the type of person who would spend all day in a library. I would look through the old dusty and neglected books trying to find something interesting and unique. I developed an interest for odd subjects like Ufos, cryptozoology, mythos and the legends from around the world. The heroes and heroines of the stories would always rise to the challenge. It’s overcoming the challenge that makes life interesting. We as human beings need just the right amount of struggle to make ourselves strong. We need adventure and exploration just as much as we need food,shelter, water and love. We need monsters and dragons to vanquish. Yesterday, I wrote about finding validation within yourself and the false sense of self worth based on the approval of the crowd. That sense of validation comes from slaying your own dragons and advancing to the next level. Nobody in the crowd knows what challenges you have faced. Nobody else has stood in your place and faced your dragon or felt the heat of its breath. All they know is if they were present on the day that you got final victory.

On that note I need to make a very important point. Sometimes the dragon wins. But, he can’t hold out forever. If the dragon doesn’t fall and you go home that day with your armor dented and your lance blunted it’s not over unless you give up. You overcome by repairing your arms and armor and adjusting your tactics.

The image above was taken in South Carolina at a reptile farm. The water is full of the American Alligator. Native Americans wrestled with them and still do for tourists in some places. The jaws snap like a trap and when they do the crushing force is measured in tons. And yet once the mouth is shut it can be kept closed with one hand. The savvy warrior has learned that if he can just keep the mouth from biting long enough that the beast will get tired and be slain at leisure. The warriors learned to overcome by simply not giving up.

The Last Game

black and white photography, Thoughts and Musing

One of my private clients had me to follow his last season of high school football (American football) last Fall. After the last touchdown of the last game between rivals was over I was left with a bittersweet feeling. This was my home team and I played the same game in front of the same fans thirty years ago. As the crowd left the stands I gathered my camera equipment and prepared to catch the emotions outside of the locker room. I looked up and there was something iconic about the bag of popcorn left behind by a fan. I began to think about how important the game was when I played. Memories of “glory days ” gone by began to fill my mind. I had based my entire sense of self worth on the approval of the crowd. When it was over I was left with an emptiness and doubt. That’s the problem with depending on the crowd for validation. It doesn’t matter if it’s a sports team or a job or anything else. When the crowd leaves they take their approval with them and when there’s no more games or someone else is more skilled comes along all your left with is an empty stadium. But, if you base your self worth on what you have accomplished and your ability to take on the next challenge the approval of the crowd makes no difference. Your self worth comes from inside you and while there will still be disappointment and things that you wish had been different the crowd can’t take that from you. I think something that Bruce Lee was once credited with was the thought, Paraphrasing,”A trophy is just a hunk of metal. It’s what’s inside you that counts and if you know what it is then it doesn’t matter if the judges approve”. (As best as I can remember). And, it’s not success that determines what’s inside you. Sometimes the other person is just better. But, if you give your best efforts and try to improve then you’ve got good stuff inside.

Working With Stone (And hearts of stone too)

black and white photography, Thoughts and Musing

I’ve always been interested in certain trade skills. Cutting stone is one of them. To properly cut a stone one must have to be able to read the small lines that tell you where small faults are inside the stone. Stone cutting is thought to be a very masculine endeavor. The uninitiated often has visions of the stone cutter as a muscle bound brute striking mighty blows until the stone gives way. While it takes some elbow grease to wrestle a large piece of rock into place one doesn’t have to have extreme strength. Ancient technology like A-frames or block and tackle make it much easier.

But I really want to talk to you about the actual cutting process. It’s not about strength. It’s about control. A mighty blow with Thor’s hammer would be manly for sure but it’s also going to ruin the work. The key to getting that nice straight cut is patience. It often starts with abrading a line in the place you want to cut. Sometimes you need to drill and use a wedge. Then you place your chisel on the spot and tap it with the hammer. The vibration of chisel travels into the stone weakens the spot until a crack forms.

This is also how to change a difficult situation. Or deal with a difficult personality. If your goal is to destroy a relationship then hammer away like Thor and vanquish the enemy. But keep in mind that an enemy is what you will produce. But, if that goal is to shape a relationship from raw stone then the small light taps over a long time is how it’s best done.

It’s also how to set someone free. (Including ourselves sometimes)

“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” – Michelangelo

In today’s microwave world of instant gratification we’ve lost the value of accomplishment. Some of Michelangelo’s works took decades. The investment of time and imparting of life energy is what gives value to an angel shaped hunk of rock. I guess the point I’m trying to make is that don’t be surprised if instant success leaves us with a hollow victory. Accomplishment is born from the struggle. The harder the struggle is then the more satisfying the accomplishment will be. Even Michelangelo struggled. I don’t have a source but I remember one of art teachers talking about Michelangelo’s unfinished works and that how some of were abandoned because a fault formed in the wrong spot. The lesson I learned was that to become a master is to have failures and move forward anyway. If we want success then we walk away from the ruined piece with our tools and our experience and we get to work on a new piece by making those small taps in just the right place. And, we do it again and again until the angel is free.

Course Corrections

Uncategorized

A few days ago I wrote about The Unknown Destiny. I indicated that God has a plan for our lives. But that doesn’t mean that I’m a fatalist. I do believe that God gave us the gift and the right of free will. (Which he will not violate but that’s a topic for another day. ) As beings of free will we have a great potential. . . to make mistakes. Now, there’s an endless list of errors and pitfalls that we can examine. They can all be broken down into two groups.

1. Mistakes made due to bad information or a lack of knowledge.

2. Mistakes made due to a failure to accept good information or gaining knowledge.

On my day job I often joke that erroneous was the ancient god of blunders and that any mistake on my paperwork was due to his mischief. But ultimately we all must take responsibility for our own actions.

So if mistakes can be lumped into two main categories then what about resolutions?

I say there’s two types resolutions as well.

1. Immediate & 2. Delayed.

The advantage of the immediate resolution should be obvious. The sooner an error is uncovered the less energy it takes to correct the problem.

The results of the delayed resolution then would mean expending more time and energy to bring things back into balance. But, there’s a compound problem with the delayed resolution. Human nature is , well…lazy. Because of our limited energy we tend to not want to accept a mistake that takes great effort to resolve. We ignore the problem. We misplace blame. We will do anything it takes to avoid expending the energy it takes to break down the error and start over. The whole time these errors gain more energy and momentum and become harder to resolve.

What does that have to with my photo above? Let’s take a second look at it.

It looks as though the road leads to the mountain and the sunbeam in the background. That’s because I created the illusion that it does with forced perspectives. In reality, the road curves off to the right and makes a circle back to place where I am standing with my camera. If we assumed we could follow the road and reach the mountain we would make a bad choice based on a lack of knowledge. But, if we follow the road and refused to accept truth when we reach the curve we would go around in circles until we give up on our goal or collapse from exhaustion. The sooner we accept the need for a course correction the easier it is to get to our goal.

The Unknown Destiny

Back and White Photography, Color Photography, Thoughts and Musing

We make plans for our lives based on our desires. When I was a young man I wanted to be fighter jet pilot. I read every book I could find on aircraft and when I was 12 I went to a summer camp at Patuxent River Naval Air test station where I got to eat lunch with the Blue Angels. I was allowed to set in the cockpit of an F-18 a full three days before the press got to see it. I knew that I was going to be the next Chuck Yeager. But I was wrong. I didn’t realize which set of tracks I was on. God had other plans for my life.

I didn’t choose the image above at random. You see, there are three sets of tracks.

One set is my plans for myself.

Another set for my plans others made for my life.

And another set for God’s plans for my life.

All three sets look as though they go to same destination but along the way there will be slight deviations that change the destiny.

Now, some will say that God robbed me of my desire to fly fighter jets. But remember, we don’t know exactly where that set of tracks ends. About the time that I would have achieved my goal America went to war. My vision for myself was to do high speed stunts for the air shows but for all I know I could have been shot down behind enemy lines. Or, I could have had stunt go wrong and crashed into a crowd.

I guess my point is that just because things don’t work out the way we imagined doesn’t mean our destiny was lost. I’ve been told that Albert Einstein said “God does not play dice with the universe.”. I agree. I believe that we have free choice but God knows what our choices will be and plans according to our choices to bring us to the place he wants us to be. I believe that along the way there will be multiple opportunities to switch tracks if we recognize them. And who knows? 50 ain’t so old. I still have a few adventures left in me. And, there’s miles of tracks ahead.