Discovering a World Lost

“I’m from a world that doesn’t exist anymore!”– Robert Barth

Discovering a World Lost

It was a Saturday morning on a coolish winter’s day when I was driving to meet Robert Barth for the first time.  As I turned down the correct street, I kept my eyes on the road while allowing my eyes to dart to the right just enough to be able to keep track of the decreasing house numbers.  Soon I saw 209 posted on a small bungalow and pulled over to park.

As soon as I left my idle car I began to walk up to the front door where I was greeted by Hal, his mother and Robert, her son-in-law.  We exchanged greetings and then I began to tour the property with Robert.  I was there for the tour of a home and I got that, but I also got a tour of something I wasn’t expecting, a journey to a world lost.

Robert and I sat down in the dining area where I asked him to tell me where he was from.  That was the beginning of a journey I’ll never forget.  He told me he was from Tiburon, California in Marin County, just across the bay from San Francisco.  He said, “I’m from a world that doesn’t exist anymore!”

“When I was a boy, in the early fifties, there was a railroad track that came through our town to connect with San Francisco Bay.  You know how it was?  We would take pennies and lay them on the tracks, so when the trains would come past they would flatten the pennies.”

He spoke of rail cars filled with huge, ancient Redwood Trees and how they would roll through town and be placed on a big railroad barge so they could cross the bay to be milled in Oakland.  Then he told me how he and his friends would take boats and row them across Belvedere Cove, around the point and cross the bay to Sausalito where they would spend the day exploring.

“Sometimes we would be able to go to Mill Valley and watch movies for the entire day for a mere twenty-five cents!”  He said.

I sat listening to his tales for most of an hour and then asked him one small question, “When are you going to write your story of a world lost?”

He looked at me with surprise and said, “I didn’t think anyone would be interested!”

“I would be interested!”  I replied.  “There are thousands of people who would love to be able to discover a world lost, a world that doesn’t exist any more.  Places and things they could never discover today, a place only you can introduce them to!”

Robert had given me a brief introduction and I yearned for more, but our time together had come to an end.  I needed to attend to other business.  We stood and shook hands.  “I’m looking forward to reading your book!”  I said.

His eyes brightened as he responded, “I’m going to get started!”

I started my drive away, thinking of all the millions of worlds lost that are yet to be discovered.  I wondered if you would be the next one to allow me, and others like me, the pleasure of a journey into the world only you know intimately. 

Everyone has a significant and revealing story to tell.  Let others discover what only you can reveal and teach.  Write your story so the world you knew won’t be a world lost.

“I would try to muscle it and that caused me to struggle!” – Jessi Butterfield

Muscle Bound

Sometimes life feels as if it is getting away.  I was having a telephone conversation with a friend this week when she said, “I was just starting to feel in control.  Then something was thrown on my desk!  I had no more time in my schedule and suddenly my I felt as if my life was caught in the vortex of a drain!”

As we talked, my heart went out to her.  I don’t know anyone who hasn’t felt that way at one time or another.  Our talk made me begin to think about how I could help her along her way.  I began to search for something that would allow me to lift her burden a little bit and inspiration came to me the very next day!

My daughter Jessi called me to coordinate her up coming business trip to Park City.  She was also giving me an update on some business challenges she and I had been working through when she made a statement that ended my search.

“Dad, remember when I was a young gymnast and was struggling to master my kip?  Remember I thought it was all about strength?  I would try to muscle it and that caused me to struggle!  It wasn’t until I began to go with the flow and got in to the right rhythm that I got it and was able to move on.”

Those long days and nights in the gym came back to me like a flood.  It was as if I had been transported by time.  I saw myself sitting on the parent seats watching Jessi work the same move over and over again with frustration on her face and tightness throughout her body.  Then on one special night, her body relaxed, her swing on the bar became graceful and she kipped right up on the bar!

At that magical moment, she looked across the floor at me and my heart leapt as I shot to my feet and screamed, “yes!”  A smile burst across her face and she did it again and again.  It was a rhythm and flow she could now feel.  She never lost her ability to do a kip again!

There are times when we all feel as if we have suddenly lost our ability.  But, it isn’t true.  Sometimes we simply forget to get in touch with the rhythm of life.  When that happens we suffer from the illusion that we can “muscle” our way through it and force the world to be under our control.  But, total control of life is a deception.

The realization that my friend had been working in an illusion caused me to call her and let her know that she hadn’t lost her exceptional ability.  Her talent was still firmly in place!  It was simply out of sync.  By paying attention to her surroundings and shifting into phase with the rhythm around her, she would be able to regain her grace and happiness.  She would no longer be muscle bound.  She would enjoy success.  It would all turn out alright in the end.

If you’re struggling with the cares of life right now, take some time to identify the natural rhythms all around you.  Bind your desire to force your way through it.  Sway a little on the bar and begin to feel your momentum build.  Then, when you’re fully synchronized, allow gravity to propel you up to the top!  And, when you’re there make sure to look around a little and smile!

According to Your Desire

“We are only limited by our desire to improve.” Gordon Beals

According to Your Desire

Time was beginning to feels like cool molasses settling throughout the room.

“This whole study is just pie in the sky!”  One Commissioner said.

It was the type of statement I’ve heard hundreds of people make when they dig their heels in and I was quite certain I could see the ruts from “dug-in-heels” stretching the entire ten-foot table length.  I was beginning to lose hope for our community’s future right about then.

We had spent a full six months and more than ten public meetings getting to the point of a completed master plan.  The plan was forward thinking and reflected the desires of the population in general.  After all, people had come to participate, in discovery sessions, in numbers never seen before.  Now, at the very end, we were hitting a stumbling block thrown up by people who had decided not to participate in the process.

Then, such person leaned over to me and quietly said, “I guess those of us that didn’t participate just need to trust those of you who did.”

He also followed up with a most illuminating statement.  “We are only limited by our desire to improve!”

The words passed my ears and caused me to begin to absorb this public process as a personal revelation.  Have I been limiting my ability to improve through lack of personal desire?  What can I do to begin to see my own potential?  Here’s how I’ve learned to use the public planning process in my own life:

The first step is to recognize what isn’t working well.  Most of us get real comfortable during periods of our lives.  When that happens it’s a sure sign that I’m not making as much progress as I’m capable of.  So, I begin to look and see where I’m coasting along.

Coasting isn’t a good thing.  I believe it leads to decay, because I’m not exercising my body, mind or spirit.  Knowing this allows one to recognize that a person doesn’t need to be in crisis to identify areas needing improvement.  Look where you’re most comfortable and begin to make plans to create change through challenge.

Obtaining an outside view will allow you to challenge yourself more because it will provide you with greater insight.  Since we’re all separate individuals we don’t have the luxury of seeing through the eyes of another person without asking for feedback.  Each set of eyes sees the world, and you, in a unique way.  I’ve always been amazed at the insight others have given me.  Another’s input has always revealed things I never would have seen on my own.

My friend Steve Crump says, “You’ll never go deep enough on your own, because we all have a built-in protection mechanism.”

Allow others to work with you so you get “deep tissue” therapy.  Your results will be spectacular if you will.  It’s hard, but worth the time and effort to create a visionary master plan!

Once you have a strong master plan, to act as your vision and guide to the future, the real hard work begins.  You can start to write an action plan that will outline stepping-stones to reach the vision you’ve created. 

Don’t skimp on this step!  Your vision is simply a wish if you don’t begin to move forward.  Wishful thinking is a disease.  It can eat you from the inside out if you allow it to make your life a wasteland.

The only way I’ve been able to avoid “wasteland syndrome” is to have accountability.  The best thing I’ve done in this respect is to have a single person to hold-my-feet-to-the-fire in each area I’m addressing.  So, I have a “health coach,” a “business coach” and a “recreation coach” right now.  They help keep me on track. I report to them every two weeks and we walk through my progress in detail.  Without their help I’d be coasting a great deal.  With their help I make regular progress.

You don’t need to pay someone to act as your coach.  Just make sure they’re willing to keep you honest and tell you the truth.  Invite people who care about you and your success to help.  They’ll do it and it will deepen your relationship with them.  Good coaches understand your desires, enhance your ability reach your dreams and show empathy.

Reaching dreams is all about desire.  Take the time to discover what you’d like to improve, Get feedback from interested parties so you can see what you’re missing on your own, and avoid wasteland syndrome by choosing accountability partners to keep you moving forward.  Gordon is right!  We are only limited by our desire to improve! 

Dodging Arrows

“You can tell who a pioneer is.  They are the ones with the arrows in their back.” – Common Saying

Dodging Arrows

It’s widely thought that pioneers are people who live difficult lives.  And, in some ways it’s true, but I’ve been working with pioneers for most of my life and they’ve taught me to look past the threat of targeted arrows.  Of all the people who have had a hand in teaching me what it means to be a pioneer, and how to dodge arrows, my daughters have shown me the very most.

My girls are all grown up now.  But, they’re still growing.  Each one of them could have taken the seemingly easy path to stay close to their nest.  They, instead, faced their heads into the wind and have walked their own paths.  Here’s what has impressed me most about how they’ve blazed their trails.

They dared to dream a dream.  When most people opt to take a look around them and then try to fit themselves into the “norm,” a pioneer looks to see what will allow them to make the most of themselves, so they can create a brighter future for everyone who follows.  Having a dream matters!  It matters to you, your contemporaries and all of the people who are yet to come.  If you don’t have one yet, find yours.

As you look for your dream keep one thing in mind.  A dream is a dream.  It doesn’t have to be big.  It just has to be yours!  If you shoot for the stars, but the stars aren’t yours, you’ve missed the point!  One small dream, realized, will open your eyes to new possibilities. So, the key is to keep dreaming, no matter what phase of life you’re in.  Don’t ever let anyone tell you you’re too old or too young

My daughters ignored those, old and young, who told them it couldn’t be done.  It takes great courage to have a chorus of voices all around saying, “You shouldn’t leave home” or “Why in the world would you go where it’s so dangerous.”  Some also said, “You don’t know anyone there” and “You can’t move away from your family.”  Pioneers see a clear vision of what their world will look like so they don’t let others, who can’t see new paths, talk them out of what they know in their hearts is the right way to go, even if it’s a painful trail in the beginning.

Pioneers endure adversity.  When innovators are faced with difficult circumstances they do what ever it takes.  My daughters have slept on couches of friends for months at a time, worked to clean 7-11 stores to keep needed money coming in the door, and have stomached harsh and difficult bosses and clients just so they could keep walking toward their dreams.  It hasn’t been easy for any one of them, but their great character hasn’t allowed them to give up.

They keep going.  All three of my daughters will admit their lives in the “wilderness” are still not perfect.  And, there are times when they wonder if their dreams are worth it.  That’s when I remind them that their path has made them into the strongest, best women of their generation.  I rehearse all they’ve accomplished with them and that’s all they need to pull up their socks to keep going.  Pioneers surround themselves with visionaries who see them for what they’ve made of themselves, who they are, and know what they’ll become as a result.  They know the importance of maintaining a “safe haven” as a respite, so they can get recharged when needed.  Such a place, combined with the right people, gives them courage to continue on.

A pioneer is able to continue on because their hope burns bright.  When the cares of the world are raining down on them they instinctively know they will succeed in the long run.  They take the long view.  When the trail is hot, difficult, and seemingly never ending, they simply put one foot in front of the other and keep marching toward their brightness of hope.

I have hope beyond measure as a result of pioneers such as my daughters.  Pioneers are not identified by the arrows in their backs, they’re those who dare to dream a dream, ignore the chorus of naysayers, endure adversity and keep walking toward the brightness of a greater tomorrow.  Can you dodge arrows?