Stories With Morals

I found myself this weekend in a precarious position. My heart raced as I wondered how the headlines might read the next day. As I looked up I could see the summit of the mountain that had been my objective. I was not an experienced climber, I had made climbs in the past but surely nothing as steep as what I now faced in the Utah mountains. My fingers clung to the anything within reach, my feet braced against the sheer wall on one side, while my right heel pressed for anything to catch a hold.

Despite my best attempt, I soon found myself sliding toward an empty abyss. Most concerning beyond the fall was the fact that my wife and our oldest daughter watched helplessly from from below. I knew the fall would hurt but I didn’t want them to see it. The adrenaline kicked in and I hollered to them, “steady the ladder.”

No, I wasn’t scaling a mountain. But the steep pitched roof of our home does sit in the mountains and I truly was fearful as I slid down a very steep roof line. In the end the only thing hurt was my pride. Embarrassed that the I have been bungee jumping, sky diving and paragliding, but unable to secure my footing on the roof, I admitted defeat and “agreed” to pay a professional to hang the Christmas lights this year. It will mark the first year  I have not hung the lights myself.

Our prior homes have always provided relatively easy access to the roof line, making the job manageable. This was the first year, in this home that I had attempted to hang lights. Though that decision put me in a dangerous position, I learned a valuable lesson once again – I could either disappoint my family, spending the holidays with no outdoor lighting or I could ask for help. You have no idea how hard that is for me, but being the true Clark Griswold of Christmas I could never let that happen.

Ultimately the lesson I learned was one that I find myself needing to learn over and over again in this life, the moral of this story is,”Surround yourself with good people and let professionals be professionals.”

Too often people like us (you and me), believe we can do it all alone. For some reason I fool myself at times in believing that success will be a little sweeter if I do it all myself. In hindsight, the most successful periods of my life have come when I have a well thought out plan and align myself with other talented people. When you consider the most successful and inspirational people of our time, they were those with a vision who sought out the talent of others when they did not have the capability them self.

That is great advice for anyone in search of happiness and success. Follow your heart and seek out those who will support you in your journey.

To learn more about starting your journey to happiness and success read The Compass.