A BIRTHDAY BLOG

Birthdays tend to bring with them a certain nostalgia – perhaps more as we experience “milestone” days growing older than when we were more carefree (and definitely invincible) during our youth.  Some see a birthday as a time of celebration – of having achieved another year of wisdom, maturity or success.  Others see them as signposts along the road to life – as bumps in the road.  A minority see them as mile markers counting down to “the end of the line.”  (Most probably view birthdays as markers that tend to grow closer together as we age but that are simply sign posts along life’s highway – a winding road with a definite beginning that has not yet been mapped to its final destination.)

While are not all given the same number of days, all ARE provided the same number of hours each day.  Some seem to find limitless ways to spend their hours while others seem to invest their limited hours in ways that seemingly waste their days.  We are not promised anything in life other than change itself – nor are we guaranteed any level of greatness other than what we establish by leveraging the talents and gifts we choose to nurture and grow.

It seems that this summer has been one of darkness – one in which far too many individuals have been plucked from this earthly journey to begin the next – leaving us sooner than we might have wished (or anticipated), often without finishing all they had started or starting all they had hoped to accomplish.  While we prefer the light of day, it is often the threat (or realization) of darkness that awakens us to the reality of our fragile existence – that makes us recognize that our days may be numbered but that does not mean that our accomplishments must be diminished or our contributions to life reduced.

How do you use YOUR gift of time?  Are you a productive and contributing part of life’s solutions or a disruptive part of its problems?  Are you a dreamer seeking new roads that have yet to be traveled or one content to rest on the laurels of past success and accomplishment – stifling all desire to identify new horizons? Are you a seeker of opportunity or an opportunist awaiting the next windfall?  Our perspective on life will color our reality, establishing the backdrop for all that we are AND a launch pad from which those we influence are able to move forward.  It is not the “falling” in life that is most significant; rather it is the “getting up” and the “moving on” (or the staying down and awaiting attention) that makes us who we are.

We tend to fulfill our potential – to establish and maintain control over where we are and what we do – when we intentionally act upon a thought or idea.  We allow ourselves to be controlled by another (thought, idea, individual or situation) when we choose NOT to act (either intentionally or inadvertently) upon the opportunities a new challenge might provide.  We choose to seek or to stand – to climb or lie down – through our responses to the opportunities we pursue.  We do not live upon the surface of a smooth and tranquil sea swept clean each night by a warm and welcoming  wind but rather within a mosaic built from the choices we make (or choose not to make) – formed by the experiences we choose and the relationships we have experienced.  I reflect, on this birthday, and thank those who have had a part of making me what I have become as I continue to seek what has yet to become of me.

TURN! TURN! TURN! – A SONG OF BIBLICAL PROPORTION GIVES APPLICABLE AND APPROPRIATE ADVICE TODAY

The sequence of words within the lyrics of a ‘60’s era song (Turn, Turn, Turn by The Byrds) are rearranged from their original order but taken almost verbatim from Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 – traditionally ascribed to King Solomon. Far too often we see life as a series of dead ends, lost opportunities and hidden darkness rather than emerging light shed upon unlimited potential.  The song, often used to promote peace while denouncing war during the Vietnam era, tells us there is… 

• A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, a time to reap that which is planted
• A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up
• A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance
• A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away
• A time to rend, and a time to sow; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak
• A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together
• A time to embrace, and time to refrain from embracing
• A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace, and, above all
• To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heavens

I recognize that I think differently than most so should not be surprised that, among other thoughts and emotions, these words came crashing down upon me recently as I wandered through a large retail store about to close. The nearly empty racks – their substance stripped from them by customers eager to find a bargain – stand as barren as the carcass of a living creature pounced upon by scavengers seeking sustenance. The organization – once a provider of jobs for many – is but a final resting place for the few left behind to shutter its doors. The sight of an enterprise shutting saddens me because it brings to an end what were once fresh starts and new beginnings – darkening the bright promise of a dream as it mirrors the finality changing seasons bring as the time progresses.

In our personal relationships or the business interactions in which we participate, we need not dwell upon the loss each season’s passing brings for within each end we are offered hope of a new beginning. We can hold on to what will no longer be OR reach out to identify new dreams that will provide us with an opportunity to succeed anew. We can stay silent in our suffering as we mourn the past or speak out in anticipation of those things that have yet to be realized. We can cast away those things holding us back or gather up new opportunities upon which we can establish a new foundation. Our perspective determines how we embrace opportunities in life – how we “Turn, Turn, Turn” when given the chance to begin anew – and what will become of our dreams and aspirations as we move forward towards each new beginning.

The closing of a business can be much like the end of a relationship. No matter how much we may seek comfort in “what was” we cannot hide from the fact that changing seasons bring new tomorrows – an unknown that can result in either crippling anxiety or exhilarating opportunity. Our world is filled with choices that bring us new beginnings – that allow us to either “keep or to cast away” as we “plant or reap.” It is up to us to make the most of our opportunities – to continue turning from one to the next – if we are to thrive in the life we have been given.

Make the most of your life as you “Turn, Turn, Turn” from the close of each seemingly final chapter towards the opportunities you will find if you but open your eyes to the potential within each new horizon!

THANKSGIVING THOUGHTS

America was built upon the belief that individuals can realize unlimited opportunity through hard work and the effective utilization of resources. Thanksgiving recognizes the sacrifice made by so many AND the relationships developed within a new land in celebrating the sweat equity invested to make the harvest possible. Some farmed, some hunted, some cooked, some served – but all shared in the feast they helped prepare. Implied within this basic tenant is that while we ARE created equally, we possess different gifts, abilities and competencies so we ARE NOT presumed to be equal in our ability to produce or achieve results.

Our “roots” establish within each of us a moral and ethical duty to PROVIDE for all – but that does not mean all are entitled to receive EQUAL treatment. While we all taste success, life is an environment of equitability rather than of equality. Our efforts do not create EQUAL results - they produce results that reflect EQUITABLY against the abilities we have developed, the intelligence we apply, and outcomes we achieve.

Our country has survived many challenges from outside our borders. We have overcome adversity, established ourselves as world leaders in almost any endeavor we chose to pursue, and shared our riches with many having less. If the greatness of our country is to survive, we must brace ourselves to overcome attacks from within – attacks on an individual’s ability to demonstrate excellence, the opportunity to reap the rewards of individual efforts, and the belief that one is limited by something other than his or her own shortcomings – by embracing the freedoms and unlimited possibilities we currently share.

As you celebrate Thanksgiving this year, consider not only the harvest but also the work that went into preparing for it. Celebrate the effort as much as the rewards. Recognize the investor as much as you do the return on his or her investment. Enjoy your time with family and friends but hold dear the hard work that made the dreams of those who came before us reality – and pray our efforts can help them continue for those who will follow.

A TIME FOR EACH SEASON

There is a time for every season and for every season there is a time. Spring ushers hope into the world – prying life from the icy fingers of winter. Summer is a time to bask in the warmth and to grow – to reach deeply into the ground so we might be able to find nourishment in the soil as we gain strength to weather the coming times. Fall is a time of respite – of preparing for the long cold season ahead as we remember the pace left behind. Winter shrouds us under a cold, dark blanket – curtailing our growth as we seek shelter from the storms.

Harry Chapin sang a tale of life being a circle. He noted that the sun seems to chase the moon from the sky during the daytime while, at night, the sun and moon reverse their roles. We experience new beginnings each day as we chase the circle of life – with false starts and dead ends being either bumps in our road or a terrible end to our progress. We can celebrate the opportunities that lie ahead of us or we can suffer the pain that comes from holding on too tightly to what has gone. We can stand tall against the storms of life or we can hide in the shelter of another’s shadow as we seek to avoid the turmoil. Life is truly a circular reality – one in which all things are possible for they have all been seen and done. It is a reality where nothing is impossible for we will inevitably move.

Embrace opportunity this summer. Reach towards the heavens as you plant your feet firmly on the ground. Do not be deterred by temporary inconvenience nor derailed by unexpected concerns. Every day that we live and breathe is truly a uniquely circular opportunity – the chance to move forward towards new opportunity as we move from the limitations of our present reality. Take the time to prepare for a long winter of reflection after passing through the autumn of rest – knowing that time and space will return you to a season of renewal.

In Michigan – perhaps as in no other place – we can experience all the seasons at one time. Embrace the opportunity to be unique and different as you pass through your seasons for while you may experience other summers – just as you do multiple falls and winters – once passed, you will never experience another exactly like this again.