Skip to main content

What's Your Wedg-ie

Some of you have heard the parable of the boy who leaves a splitting wedge in the nape of a young tree on his way in the house when called to dinner.  Days go by, then months turn to years, all the while he intends to return the wedge to the shed.  In his adulthood, a violent evening storm strikes his home, and in the morning he awakes to find his beloved tree split - exposing the long-forgotten wedge, precisely in it's hurried resting place.  Frustrated he gathers the remnants of the tree that once provided shade to his home and lofty heights to his children.

In our haste, fast-paced as our lives have become, have we placed an errant mental, physical or spiritual wedge in places that may cause us future grief or frustration?  What potential consequences may distract or overwhelm us in the midst of a seemingly focused life?  Wedges or wedgies...it matters little.  Fact is, if we have them, we're stuck.  Something's between us and where we want to be.

Here are 8.5 potential wedgies that we may face;

  1. Guilt - our ability to hang on to disappointment or a failure to resolve lingering issues.
  2. Fear - of what is, or what isn't.
  3. Doubt - the absence of faith.
  4. Anger - the presence of things for which we care deeply and could address.
  5. Regret - what was.
  6. Resources - time, money, good people - or the lack thereof.
  7. Addiction - in it's many forms.
  8. Sorrow - deeper than regret.
8.5.  Success - or how we've chosen to define success.

The list of wedgies - or things that are making us stuck - could be significantly longer.  I've covered some of the deeper and sharper challenges that get in our way.

Slow down.  Take the time to put things in their proper place, in proper perspective.  Surround yourself with good people, ask for help - if you've a still small voice urging you to deal with that distant, nagging wedge - take care of it.

Storms will come, perhaps they are already here.  It's never too late to remove that wedge, pull out the wedgie and get started on your true potential.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

1.5 Reasons to Take a Different Path - The Hippy-Cow Way

The Hippy-Cow Way I remember early in my career asking a question something like, "Why don't we try [insert idea here]?"  And the quick reply, "Because this is the way we've always done it." Wow. 2020 is teaching us that the way  we've always done things..does not work.  Yeah.  The age-old rut that can trap us all. Frustrating isn't it? As a child growing up in the Aspen Valley, I remember traveling many miles along Highway 82.  Glenwood to Carbondale, then to Basalt, and on to Aspen.  Two lanes most of the way, it was and is the main route connecting all of these Rocky  Mountain towns.  The drive can be breath-taking in the Fall. And most take this route because, well, it's the route we always take. It's familiar. Safe. Known. Well traveled. You get the idea. There are other ways to get where you're going. Roads less traveled that hold great sites and great reward. One of my favorites is the Hippy-Cow Way. Known only to our fam...

Weigh ins...How Wrestling Teaches Equality

I adore the sport of wrestling. Very few things have brought me as much personal and professional satisfaction, grief, suffering, confusion, and growth.  Three of my children have wrestled, including my youngest daughter. She's a pioneer in the sport, as evidenced by the interesting questions she gets asked. "You wrestle boys?" She does, and she wrestles female opponents as well. Or, "Wow, that's cool?" Almost like a side compliment. Wrestling is all about equality . It begins with weigh ins. Pre-match and pre-tournament, stripped down to the skivvies, get on the scale and check how much you weigh. I wrestled in the 119, 132, and 138 pound weight class. My opponents weighed the same.  The mat size is the same for all competitors. Mat time is the same, roughly six minutes, depending on division and age group. Same number of coaches are allowed in your corner, two. Same number of referees, usually one, supervise the match. Unless someone puts their thumb on t...

How are We to Live in a COVID Age?

As a man who believes in Christ and strives to understand how I process those beliefs in my life, my actions, and my words; I often turn to modern philosophers to help me make sense of things. In my own weakness, I don't always understand scriptures. My faith often falls short. My prayers could be on repeat. I love to read, think, and write. I often come across gems that strike me as relevant. One such philosopher who's words captured my young heart, C.S. Lewis, gives me pause. Here is his take, on the atomic age, my additions and emphasis embedded, no disrespect intended. “In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic [ covid ] age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer,...