SUMMER OF 2014

AS ANOTHER SUMMER DRAWS TO A GLORIOUS CLOSE, I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE TWO EXPERIENCES FROM THIS PAST SEASON.  BOTH OCCURRED AT OUR LAKE HOME IN RURAL PENNSYLVANIA, WHERE, EACH TIME I VISIT, I’M REALLY ABLE TO UNPLUG, RECHARGE, AND RETURN HOME WITH A REAL SENSE OF CLARITY ON CERTAIN SUBJECTS. THIS ONE HAS TO DO WITH MOVING FORWARD IN LIFE; MORE SPECIFICALLY, MOVING FORWARD IN LIFE WITH OUT THE BAGGAGE OF PAST BAD DECISIONS, RESULTS OR EXPERIENCES IMPEDING YOUR ABILITY TO LEAD.

THERE ALWAYS SEEMS LIKE SO MUCH IS TO BE GAINED BY HOLDING ON TO OUR PAST SUCCESSES AND FAILURES.  I’M NOT CERTAIN WHY THAT IS, BUT FOR MANY OF US, THIS IS JUST HOW WE ARE WIRED.  OF COURSE, FROM EXPERIENCE, WE ALL KNOW THAT THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE, AND THAT THERE IS NO MEAT ON THE BONES OF THE PAST!

THE FIRST EXPERIENCE THAT LEAD TO THIS SPOT OF CLARITY CAME FROM AN… UNEXPECTED SPOT. WE HAD A MOVIE NIGHT AT OUR FAMILY REUNION IN JULY, AND THE FEATURE FILM WAS DISNEY’S “FROZEN.”   I’M SURE YOU KNOW BECAUSE IT’S BEEN ALL OVER THE NEWS AND SOCIAL MEDIA SINCE ITS RELEASE, BUT THIS WORK REALLY SPEAKS TO MANY WOMEN, YOUNG AND OLD. AND HEY- SOME GUYS TOO!  THE MAIN CHARACTER, ELSA, IS HAUNTED BY HER PAST, AND IT HINDERS HERSELF FROM BECOMING THE PERSON SHE WAS BORN TO BE.  SHE FINALLY FALLS SO LOW TO THE GLAMOR OF THE PAST THAT SHE MAKES CHOICES THAT SHE BELIEVES WILL ALLOW HER TO MOVE ON.  HER SONG, “LET IT GO,”  POINTS HER IN A DIRECTION THAT SHE BELIEVES WILL FREE HER FROM HER PAST.  OF COURSE, SHE FINDS THAT NOT UNTIL SHE REALLY RELEASES HERSELF FROM THE PAST CAN HER NEW LIFE BEGIN.

THE SECOND EXPERIENCE WAS A STORY THAT A LOCAL PRIEST AT THE LAKE CHURCH SHARED.  HE WAS DETAILING HOW A SMALL VILLAGE IN AFRICA DEALT WITH A COMMUNITY PROBLEM. MONKEYS HAD WANDERED OUT OF THE JUNGLE AND HAD BECOME A BIG NUISANCE FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE VILLAGE.  IT REACHED A POINT WHERE THEY ABSOLUTELY HAD TO BE DEALT WITH.  THE VILLAGE LEADERS HAD A MEETING TO DISCUSS HOW THEY COULD SOLVE THIS PROBLEM AND DECIDED TO FIND A WAY TO TRAP THE MONKEYS AND THEN RELEASE THEM DEEP IN THE JUNGLE AWAY FROM THEIR VILLAGE.  THEIR METHODS OF TRAPPING THE MONKEYS WERE QUITE SIMPLE: THEY HOLLOWED OUT COCONUTS SHELLS WITH A SMALL HOLE IN EACH.  THEY THEN PUT IN A BANANA INSIDE OF EACH COCONUT.  THE MONKEYS THEN SMELLED THE BANANAS AND REACHED INSIDE THE SMALL HOLE, BUT ONCE THEY HAD THE SNACK IN THEIR FIST, THEY COULD NOT REMOVE THE BANANA! THEIR CLENCHED FISTS WERE TOO BIG TO MAKE IT BACK THROUGH THE SMALL HOLES! WITH THEIR HANDS STUCK IN THE COCONUTS, THEY WOULD SCREAM AND RUN AROUND UNTIL THEY WERE EVENTUALLY CAPTURED BY THE VILLAGERS.  SOME OF THEM EVEN DIED IN PANIC WITH THE COCONUT STILL ATTACHED TO THEIR HANDS!  ONCE THE PEOPLE CAUGHT THE MONKEYS AND BROUGHT THEM BACK TO DEEP IN THE JUNGLE, THEY SIMPLY HAD THE MONKEYS RELEASE THE BANANAS FROM THEIR HAND, AND THEY WERE FREE.

WE FACE THE SAME CHOICE IN LEADERSHIP. WE MUST RELEASE THOSE THINGS THAT KEEP US FROM OUR DESTINY.  WE HOLD ON TO THINGS OF THE PAST THAT NO LONGER SERVE US. THESE “OLD BANANAS” KEEP US LOCKED INTO OLD WAYS OF THINKING, RENDERING US UNABLE TO SEE THE NEW AND, SOMETIMES, SIMPLE SOLUTIONS THAT ARE RIGHT IN FRONT OF US.  SURE, WE KEEP GROUNDED IN OUR VALUES, BUT MANY OF THE METHODS AND PROCESSES THAT SERVED US WELL IN THE PAST SIMPLY DON’T WORK TODAY.  REMAINING RELEVANT IN THIS NEW WORLD ORDER STARTS WITH EACH OF US LETTING GO AND REACHING OUT.  IT CAN HURT OUR EGOS SOMETIMES TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT, BUT IT’S REQUIRED FOR EACH OF US TO LEAD!

SO, I SAY, “DROP THE BANANA!” AND LET GO OF WAYS OF THE PAST.  THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME FOR EACH OF US TO “LET IT GO!” AND LEAD OUR NEW LIFE THE WAY WE WERE DESIGNED TO LEAD: FACING FORWARD.

IT’S AS EASY (AND AS TOUGH!) AS THAT!