Beyond Cedar Bluffs

"I dwell in possibility.." -Emily Dickinson

Each of us have some thing that we grew up with, some thing that we allow to hold us back from achieving greatness. Some say it is the hard streets of the inner city. A place where people believe that possibility can not exist beyond two or three blocks away.

The same can be said for a young boy living the gravel roads of farm country. A place where you can see as far as the eye can see. But it can be a place where you think possibility only exists just beyond the next corn field.

We tend to limit ourselves this way, believing that we can never escape our circumstances. Many times there are people trying to hold us back. People telling us we are not good enough.

I am here to tell you that you can get beyond the streets of your city neighborhood. You can get beyond the gravel roads of Cedar Bluffs. Those roads lead to new places filled with opportunity. They lead to a place where you can have a greater life.

In my own story, I love going home to where I grew up. It helped make me the person I am today. It is also the place where I learned there was much more beyond its country roads and grain elevators.

Find your way beyond whatever is holding you back. Don't forget those streets and country roads. But know that those same roads lead you to great success for your life.

Fire Drill Practice

"A fire drill does not demand a fire" -Nancy Cartwright

Do you remember your days in school when you practiced evacuting a building in case of a fire. Those fire drills were always fun to have as it got us out of school work. We lined up and walked quickly without running to our designated safety area.

We performed these drills 'just in case' a fire eventually broke out and our lives truly depended upon getting out safely. Even back in the 1950s, the threat of nuclear war was pervasive. People practiced 'duck and cover' in order to save themselves from the nuclear fallout.



We practice constantly in the event that something bad will happen in our lives. Those things may never happen, but we are prepared because we take the time to prepare.

What if we took time to prepare for the good things that could happen in our life. Maybe we should practice how to handle the large amount of money we will earn. Maybe we should practice what it will be like having great relationships, great children and a great job.

What I am saying is that maybe we should practice being positive about life.

Build a Road, Not a Wall

"You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space." -Johnny Cash

I was driving home from work the other day and came upon some construction workers. They were bricklayers piecing together an intricate stone wall. It was interesting to watch them and I had the time to do so. With road construction ahead and stopped traffic, I sat there watching.

As the bricklayers did their work, complaint was bubbling up inside of me with the annoyance of delay. It could have been quite easy to fall into the trap of getting upset about the situation. So I turned my focus to watching these men as they built their wall.

These bricklayers picked up each unique piece of stone and carefully laid it within the wall. Each piece was selected in order to fit and complete another section of the wall. It made me wonder if we sometimes build walls in our lives by using our complaints and disappointments.

In relationships, we take small little dissatisfaction with another and place it on our wall. Those small stones of objection, petty differences or disagreements add to the construction. Soon we find that we have built a wall between ourselves and the other person. It may seem like we are trying to build a majestic wall when in reality it will be a wall that confines us.

We may not even realize the wall has been built until such time that we can no longer see beyond it. At this point we may come to our senses and begin the process of tearing it down. But some of us will choose to cap the wall and finish the seperation, walling themselves off forever. It is a choice that will eventually have to be made.

Know that these walls do not build themselves. We are the ones that create and choose which stones to use. Maybe its time we choose to use those stones differently. Maybe instead of using them to build a wall, we choose to build a road on which we walk, leaving those stones behind us. Maybe we let the complaint go and lay a path to better relationships instead of walls.

I never had the opportunity to see how the completed wall looked. I am sure it was going to be a majestic wall. It would be a wall that would enclose all within.

For me, I had a road being built out ahead of me. A road that will lead me past those walls which would seek to confine my life. A road that enables me to leave all of those complaints and disappointments behind. A road built to carry my relationships, my dreams and my life to greater places.

Do not use your complaints, disagreements and disappointments as material for a wall. All that creates is confinement in your life. Take those stones and build a road to your future. Use them as stone pavers for the road you are constructing for your life.

Put up a sign in your life that says "Road Construction" and see where you can take your life; a far greater place for sure.

Chase Away the Darkness

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am the type of person that arrives at work very early in the morning. I arrive long before others begin to stir from their beds. Long before the rush of the day starts to invade the quiet morning hush.

It is normally a darkened sky depending upon the Moon's position. Some mornings it is black as ink while other times it is bathed in bluish tones of reflected moonlight. The Moon does what it can to chase away the thickness of night as it reflects the light of the Sun.

But as the Sun begins to rise, it stands as the light which chases all darkness out of the sky. The light moves into the recesses in which darkness attempts to hide. It fills our world with the ability to see what exists around us. It allows us to look beyond what darkness attempts to hide.

I sit and think about the lives of people I know. There are people struggling financially with jobs and bills piling up. Others with relationships either in want of one or suffering through one. We know of people that are dealing with medical issues which claw at their hopes and beliefs. So many people out there being pulled into darkness.

While it is not possible to fix and correct all that happens to people, we can provide a light. We can not necessarily be the brilliant sunlight that chases away the darkness. We can be the candle at the end of the hall, guiding them. We can be a source of light shining through and into the window of their hearts offering hope.

We can be the moonlight reflecting a greater source of light. Moonlight that provides temporary ability for them to find their way until the light of day returns. We can chase some of the darkness away. We can make a difference in the life of another person.