About Time – time, things, and people shape how we think

When I was growing up the thought of scout camp was exciting, and since I was not in a position to go to camp, I made up for it by telling tall stories to my little brother, about me being a boy scout.   I guess that sort of thing comes along with the growing up experience?  Eventually I went to Boy Scout camp for real.  We spent an entire week hiking, canoeing, and other things that scouts do. 

I wonder if I remembered to express my appreciation to these leaders --- it’s a lot of work running a Scout Camp.  Something that came to my mind when I started to write this is how people pitch in and make it possible for things like a Scout Camp.  The staff was made up of scouts who were close to becoming Eagle Scouts, and Adult Leaders, most were volunteers.

The reason I feel like sharing, or putting this out to the universe, is that a while back I found some old memorabilia, which brought back a lot of memories.  These memories surely helped shape my life, were early signs of my interests, and they shaped how I think.

It was high on a shelf in a storage room.  I didn’t even know any of that stuff was still around.   It sure got my mind going.  There were a couple of awards I had won.  They were nothing special, other than to me, and maybe the people had made them.  One award was for first place in the “Heaving Bar,” event, and another was for “Best Hiker.” 

 To compete in Heaving Bar event a scout would grab an uncoiled rope from the ground, and then carefully coil it, so they could throw one end of it over a horizontal bar that had been tied between two treetops.  The bar was about twenty five feet above the ground.  Once the scout had thrown the rope, they would run up to where the rope was, hopefully hanging over the bar and back down to the ground.

Then they would grab it and tie a timber hitch around a log, that on the ground below the bar.  Next they would run back to the starting place and pull the log off the ground.  Finally, they would tie a clove hitch, around a stake that was in the ground.  (Whew . . . say that quickly, three times!)

It was a timed event, and I had spent a good portion of the week practicing, so when the competition came, I did well.  The awards were not 24 karat gold or anything like that, but to a young boy they meant something.  It seems they helped to build confidence and act as a kind of measuring stick, to let us know that “maybe I am o.k.” 

It is interesting how these symbols hold a physiological value.  It seems our cultures are built around them.  Many things are intangible, especially the important ones.  Maybe these tangibles fill in for the intangible things?   

 One intangible is our dependence on each other.  It starts when we are born, and continues until we move on to the happy hunting ground.   First we are born dependant on our parents.   Next, we strive to be “independent.”   Most of us feel a need to be “independent,” or to take care of ourselves.   I remember distinctly growing up, wanting to show “I” could do this, win this game or trophy, travel to this place, climb this mountain, shoot this gun, have things like cars, clothes, etc.

This phase seems to be about figuring out who we are, what we are about, and gaining confidence, experimenting, and learning.   Eventually we hit a point where we may realize there is a bigger picture; we see there is more to life than just material things.  During this stage in my life I found that with focus and time I could compete well and reach the top levels of most activities or skills, I earned money for a car, to buy the cloths, climbing gear, etc. 

Eventually there came a time when those things did not seem to motivate or drive me anymore, they just were not as cool as they had seemed.   This is where I learned the difference between temporal things, and spiritual things.  This saying seems to communicate the idea.

“It seems with temporal things the anticipation of getting them far exceeds the realization of having them.  In spiritual things the realization far exceeds the anticipation.”

 It might be compared to getting a new car.  Sounds exciting and all, but when you finally get it, it is not nearly as cool as you thought it was going to be.   Now that is not to say a car is bad, but rather it is a tool and if used to project an image or to make up for lack of self esteem, etc., it is not going to do the trick.  On the other hand, we could use that car to drive some friends into a trailhead, and go on a backpacking trip, share in each other’s personalities, thoughts, and other unique qualities, while in the mountains. Then we come back having had a great experience on the celestial side.   

There was a period of a few years in which I was sort of searching for my purpose, or something to drive me, like a life-long goal.   During this time I did a lot of thinking about the bigger picture, and how I fit in.  It is interesting to note how sometimes we feel we are stuck, or that we are not making progress; then after we make it through the situation we can see we were progressing, although slowly.

I ended up doing some deep soul searching about life, relationships, goals, and many things.   I was looking for a path that held heart, something I felt driven by; and it seemed to be associated with my personal gifts I would ultimately share with others.  

This is where I became more aware of the third stage, and working with the idea that we “all” are “Interdependent.”  To have the quality of life we enjoy, we must act and figure out how to interact in a positive manner, and one that leads in a good direction.   I believe we are far more dependent on others  than most of us would like to think.  It is almost an oxymoron.  We must all help make sure we thrive individually, and yet, help build the team.  I believe this is why the saying about U and I popped into my mind.  

My football coach used to say, “There is no I in team.”  It made me think about that idea for a long time.  I am guessing he was talking about team work, but in saying that way, it sort-of undercut the importance of the individual.  We all bring important qualities to the table of life, and I believe we need to remember that as well.  To help communicate that idea, I eventually I came up with this saying,

“There is no “I” in Team; nor is there a “U” but without “U and I” there is no team.”

If we as people, had only taken care of ourselves, and did not work together, with the created synergy, we would still be living in caves or hollow logs.  Synergy is important but it is not understood very well.  There is far more to synergy than just teamwork.  There is a spiritual component or part, that when we are able to add it together with teamwork, we create miracles.

During this period of introspection, I found I loved the out of doors, the mountains, or basically the natural environment in general.  I liked learning the skills associated with the out of doors, adventures like camping, climbing, hiking, sailing, SCUBA, etc.   It seemed like I was a good instructor, and liked teaching.  I found relationships to be of key importance, they increased or added to the experience of living life.  Eventually, I decided, “People are the Spice of Life.”

I also noticed some of the problems and struggles we as humans deal with or encounter in everyday life, and in relationships.  Trying to better understand them stirred me to ponder why?  Through reading, listening to tapes, seminars, and self introspection, I was able to notice there were better ways to interact, things to do, and things to avoid, and by doing them it would lead to a higher quality of life and a better life experience.  

These were things which had nothing to do with age, race, religion, nationality, etc., but were simply “good principles,” to live by—they just seemed to make life better for everybody.  Not to those things aren’t important, just that maybe there is a way to use these fundamental “good living principles,” to help us build a better tomorrow.   So I decided I would set a goal to be in the mountains as often as I could, learn more about mountaineering and the natural environment, teach these skills and ideas to others, and share these good living principles with others.  Now I was in the interdependent mode sharing my own unique gifts.

 Here’s a principle based idea you might like:  It seems to deal with consciously thinking about things we do in life, but from a different perspective.  This movie communicates it a good concept or principle about living life well.   As I started watching the movie I was not overly impressed.  It was kind-of different and had a slow start.  Finally, after stopping it a time or two, I finally ended up watching it all the way through---and I am glad I did.  

It was about a funny looking red headed boy on his twenty first birthday.  The show had boy- girl friend stuff, family stuff, living life things, etc.  Then the father has a special talk with his son, and tells him that his father had the same talk with him, on his twenty first birthday.   Now, he was going to share a family secret with him. 

The father explained that the males in their family could travel back in time.  Then he explained some of the rules, how it worked and how it would not work.  What he had to do is go to a secluded place, clinch his fists, and think of the point in time he wanted to go back to, and wham!  We went back in time. 

In the next part of the show the boy goes about living life, and then redoing or fixing certain things in his life, by going back in time and redoing them.  Like he goes on a date, and messes it up, and is not very happy about it.   So he picked out a certain time just before the date and he would go back and redo the experience, except he would change it to the way he figured was best. 

Much of the show is about various scenarios dealing with time travel and how changing things this way or that, can make them better, and sometimes not.  The thing that made the entire movie a very worthwhile was the last part.  He had lived most of his life.  His dad got cancer, so they went back in time to spend more time with him.  He did this over and over.  Eventually, due to how it worked, he had to make a choice to let his dad be gone and get on with his life, or not, so of course, he moves on with his life.  He has his share of struggles, and challenges, etc., but at the end of the show, he stops going back in time.   He had learned a lot about life, and there was one thing in particular he learned and started doing, which I really liked.  

Rather than going back in time and trying to fix his mistakes, he had learned to live each day, as though he had gone back in time, and was now doing it the way he wanted the first time around.  He would make choices, carry out actions and do relationships, as he would have, had he gone back to redo them or fix them.   The movie is called, “About Time,” you may be able to find it on You Tube, if you are interested. 

Ultimately, as I mentioned above, life teaches us that it is not about being “dependant,” nor is it about being “independent.”  Although there are times we may want to be independent, it appears that learning the importance of interdependence, is the key to a better life.  Once we have experienced and learned about dependence, and independence, we find, “Interdependence,” creates synergy, and with synergy we can have a, “Life of Abundance, coupled with good health and good relationships and love,”

“The Real Champions of Tomorrow will be Champions of Cooperation, Rather than Competition.”

Sometimes our history gets in the way of interacting in a synergistic way.  We often feel we are different from each other, and of course, in many ways we are, but it appears to me that when it comes to the really important things, we are very much alike.   I see our history as an overcoat, a shirt, a pair of pants, a blanket, or pair of shoes we wear.  It is not us, but we feel like it is.

Still more things which shaped my life,
 "What has shaped the way you live your life?"

As I looked at this memorabilia it started me thinking about how these things have colored or shaped the way I think and feel.  In some ways it was good, and in others, well, maybe not so good.  Since we all come from many different backgrounds, it is going to require time (maybe even a few generations) and patience to learn how our past has shaped the way we think.

Learning to coexist is essential to our well being.  How sad it would be,  to have spent thousand of years fighting  with each other, and continue to do so; and ultimately miss out on how wonderful life can be when we understand how synergy works, and the benefits that come from it.

 I believe “we” can and are making the world a better place to live, and “we” are making good progress.   One last thought, Imagine if we could spend all of the money, time, energy, mental skills, etc. that we put into building bombs, fighting each other, or trying to protect ourselves; and spent it on making the world a better place?   We really do have a better tomorrow awaiting us!