Good morning, night, evening, whatever. We back. It was an
adventurous six
weeks of eating interesting things, being in interesting places, and meeting
interesting
people. But, it's good to be home. Kinda. While Susan and I don't have to
sleep
literally on the plywood boards that double as mattresses in the dorms at
Zhengzhou
University or on hard mattresses characteristic of all the private homes, guest
houses,
and even five star hotels, our biological clocks are still twelve hours earlier
in China.
It makes for interesting times. Last night, for example, at 2:30 am EST, as if
Susan and
I were back in Shanghai's New Heights Restaurant having lunch, we were wide
awake, sipping
wine, nibbling on shrimp, and starting to catch up on recorded TV shows we had
missed
while away. We've got to get things right since we're driving out to the
mid-west in a
few days for a family gathering.
Anyway, I found 1837 e-mails waiting for me. Yes, 1837! I forget
to set my
Outlook on "no mail" and deliberately got near a computer only on the rarest
occasion
while in China. Though I exercised my index finger and quickly erased most of
them, I was
struck by three. Two were a deeply touching "thank you" from students, one of
whom was in
China with Susan and me. The third was from a professor in Ohio.
"What great difference can I really make? I'm only one person,"
this
professor had written way back at the beginning of May as I was flying over the
Pacific in
response to my last Random Thought on first year students. It's something I
hear and read
all the time. It's something I occasionally say to myself when I'm about to
get down.
Then, I think of such people as these two students. God, I wish I could violate
confidence and let her read the two student e-letters. But, thinking of what
those two
students had said, every answer to her question that I came up with boiled down
to simply
that so often what we think is small can be unusually large and what appears to
be
insignificant at the moment can often be great.
I have a quote from Mark Twain near my computer. It says, "Life is
too short
to be little." As a cancer survivor, all I can say is, "Ain't that the truth."
For me,
each day is a unique moment of opportunity in time too precious to be
forgotten, too
beautiful to be ignored, too meaningful to be without purpose. Sometimes the
opportunities that seem the smallest are the most magical and magnificent.
Small
opportunities can go largely unnoticed. They're are all around us. It's the
reverse of
fishing. Forget going after the rare whopper. Cast for the everyday small
ones and don't
let them get away. Even with small opportunities we can create something big.
Every
encounter, every challenge, every relationship, every situation is an
opportunity to give
of yourself in the service of others. Each day brings with it new ways to make
a
difference in people around you.
That's not always easy. It takes discipline, commitment, awareness,
creativity, humility, preparation, time, effort, resilience, and patience. I
was reminded
of that last week. I had decided to hike up Yunnan Province's daunting 3,000
foot Liming
Mountain that topped out at almost 10,000 feet above sea level. I hesitated.
I didn't
know if I was in shape to make it since I hadn't exercised in six weeks. The
guide wasn't
sure this 66 year old body could do it. Nevertheless, I gave it a whirl.
"What the
hell," I told Susan, "If I had to turn back ten minutes into the hike, I would
turn back."
It didn't take but a few steps into the hike for my lungs to tell
me that I
wasn't superman and in that rarified air I wasn't going to leap a tall mountain
in a
single bound. But I found the secret to making it to the top. No bounding,
just rhythmic
plodding. To hike successfully to what's called its "thousand tortoise"
summit, I just
had to patiently and slowly take one small step at a time in a steady cadence.
And yet,
as I took one small step after another, each slowly lost its insignificance as
it became
an essential contribution to a great hike.
Now, you say you can't do that for each and every student? You say
you can't
do it all? You say you don't have the time? Maybe. But, the plodding was not
the real
secret to making the climb. It was my attitude. Yep, it's all about attitude.
As I
hiked that mountain, my mind and heart were already at the summit. And, I
discovered
where they went, the rest of me, especially my lungs and feet, followed in their
footsteps; that as I imagined being on the summit, I was already well on the
way to
reaching it. Remember, I didn't know if I was in shape to make the physical
climb, but
my imagination was in shape to make the mental and spiritual climb. I set it
free and it
freed me of limitations. I allowed it to walk the releasing positive path
instead of the
enslaving negative one. I let it be my guide. It became the push and pull. It
gave a
purpose to each one step I took. It allowed me to make the climb. It upgraded
my vision.
It raised my expectations to the heights of that summit. Step by step I made
it to the
top. And, you know what? All this is not exaggeration. I still vividly
remember that
as I stood on the tortoise rock formations of the mountain's pinnacle looking
down the
vastness of the Yulong Gorge, I uttered a "damn!" I was overwhelmed by a sense
of
accomplishment and fulfillment. My imagination had shown me not just who I
could be, but
more importantly who I was. And, I will always remember that during any
encounter with
anyone at anytime in any place.
Sure, we cannot make a difference in every student's life. But we
shouldn't
use that as an excuse for cynicism, negativism, passivity, avoidance,
disinterest,
withdrawal, disengagement, disconnection, and inaction. We have to make these
efforts
knowing that though they may be hard and challenging, "hard" is not synonymous
with
"impossible" anymore than "challenging" is with "obstacle." Why? The Talmud
has the
answer. It tells us that while we are not obligated to complete the work,
neither are we
free to abandon it. That means we don't abandon the work because we never
truly know if
we can scale that mountain, how much work we can accomplish, and who we truly
can become.
It was and still is and will forever be a metaphoric lesson for teaching never
to be lost
on me.
Make it a good day.
--Louis--
Louis Schmier www.therandomthoughts.com
Department of History www.newforums.com/L_Schmier.htm
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, Georgia 31698 /\ /\ /\ /\
(229-333-5947) /^\\/ \/ \ /\/\____/\ \/\
/ \ \__ \/ /
\ /\/
\ \ /\
//\/\/ /\ \_ /
/___\/\ \ \
\/ \
/\"If you want to climb
mountains \ /\
_/ \ don't practice on mole
hills" -/
\
---
To make changes to your subscription go to:
http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english
