Pondering Pivotal Points/Persons

A few years back I found myself in a reflective mood, and was taking stock of my life.  I had arrived (so far) at a pretty satisfying place.  Most of my life's major decisions were best viewed through the rear-view mirror.  Questions long ago grappled with and settled.  Such as:  Now that you are an adult, what are you going to do about it?  How are you going to support yourself?  Where are you going to live?  Will you marry?  Raise a family?  If any, who, what and where are you going to worship?  What do you hold most dear?  What difference will your having been alive have made to anyone, anyway?

In a sense, my life unfolded from a handful of choices I had made years earlier, and they were just playing themselves out.  My life had purpose, and it was filled with faith, family, and friends.  I pondered, 'Just how had my life been influenced along the way?'  I most certainly did not arrive at my current state by my own efforts alone...

It was very clear to me that there had been a handful of distinctly pivotal points in my journey.  Maybe you have had them, too?  You know, you are just cruising along, living your life, and then Bam!, you are suddenly struck by a person, an idea, or an event that captures your imagination, and everything changes!

Some new person, or insight, or happening interrupts life's equilibrium and causes you to just stop dead in your tracks, re-evaluate your path, and abruptly surge forward in a slightly, or entirely new direction!  The new path may be short-lived (and later abandoned), or it may lead you onto a life-long journey.  Ultimately, however, there are only a handful, 8 or 10 perhaps, of significant pivotal points in one's entire lifetime which explain how you arrived to become the person that you are today.

In that reflective moment, I determined to return the credit to whom the credit was due.  I made a record of the wonderfully pivotal people in my life, and noted their various contributions. 

I called my list:  Godly Pivotal People Who Helped Change my World.

Then I tracked them all down, those who were still living.  Why?  In order to personally thank them for their influence in changing my life and my world.  As a direct result of their influence, my life's direction was reshaped in a wonderful direction.  I have no idea how my life would have turned out if even one the the pivotal person's contributions had not been afforded.  I and many others have, and continue to be blessed because a handful of wonderful, caring people crossed my path and caught my attention...  

Since I have been fortunate enough to have had an impact on others along the way, I also was able to add with my personal thanks-giving the following sentiment:  "My Mom thanks you, my Dad thanks you, my Sister thanks you, my Brothers thank you, my Wife thanks you, my Children thank you--along with countless others that you will never meet!  We all thank you.  Your efforts have changed the world...!!! "

Well, it was fun, and time well spent!
Let me know how it goes if you try it....

Like I Should Care

I don't go looking for causes much these days.  Each new day brings to my doorstep enough of its own challenges, adventures, and rewards which test and re-test my mettle, and give me a chance to give.  Although I've heard that the race goes to the swift, I have to admit that I am not as fast as I once was, and find myself "in the dust" much of the time.  And actually that is generally O.K. with me.  To be sure, I am still in a race of sorts, but I try to pretty much stay out of other people's way who are in a hurry trying to get to their particularly important place, i.e., "the Cause."  For the world's sake, I only wish them well.  But there is plenty enough for me to do around here.


To be fair, each cause is to be evaluated on the basis of its own merits, and attracts its own set of supporters.  There are zillions of areas of concern, interest and need in life, both great and small.  One does not have to look very far to notice a spot where one might fit in and be a blessing. 


There are many benefits of getting involved with life's needful causes and varied interests.  There is a connectedness, a brotherhood so to speak, that develops among the supporting members of a common cause.  Efforts are expended together; sacrifices are made together; successes and disappointments are shared together.  Change may be effected.  In some new found way, your life matters, and the world becomes a better place.  When you invest the coinage of your time into some pursuit, you trust it will have the return of having been time "well-spent."


I have written before that "I have not been called to change the world, I will leave that for others.  But I have been able to change my world, and for that I am thankful."  You do not need to be among the fastest to stir up a little dust along the way.  But if you are fast and in a hurry, please, do not let me stand in your way.  By all means, go for it!  There is endless work to be done!  Thanks for your effort!


Know what I mean?  There's something for everyone to do. 
There's no law against love.

     

Thoughts with a capital T

It's a dreary Sunday morning in SoCal.  Here I am sitting at the keyboard in my bathrobe.  It's quiet.  I like that.  I can think.  Well, I wouldn't exactly call it thinking,  I'm not all deep and stuff.  More like I have thoughts.  Things occur to me, or I see patterns, look for explanations, endeavor to make sense of it all.  As I expressed in my profile, in my life I have been interested in a couple of things--one of which is appreciating what is right about people. 


I don't know exactly why this interest caught my attention early on as a child.  Scientists of behaviour might examine the crucible of my early family life.   As a second son in a family of five children, I precociously noted which childish behaviours were rewarded with warm parental approval and which were not.  Behaviours which elicited either an icy coolness of parental indifference or an heated explosiveness requiring parental intervention were to be avoided.  Most kids glean from their parents an  initial ideal of what's right about people, and tangentially how to act..  Because children yearn to be appreciated, and long to be adored, they make the necessary adjustments on their way toward adulthood.


Could life be that simple? Is the road to the promised land of adulthood as simple as Just Please Your Parents?  To simply think like they would want you to think?  and do just what they would wish you to do? 


Oh, if only life were that easy.  The problem is that I don't always think like my parents would have thought, nor do I do what my parents would have done.


For me, it has always been much easier to notice that which is to be avoided, than to clearly see that which must be embraced.  What really is right about people?  And what was really right about me?   And what about that mysteriously large gap between knowing what one ought to be doing, and what one actually finds one's self doing? 


The forge of personal experience teaches us what not to do, but it only hints at what to do.  The lessons of what is right about people and their behaviour start in the family, but they only go so far.  It is interesting to keep an eye out for what is right about people and how to bring out the best in them....


What have you noticed?