I went to my storage shed the other day and came upon a box of old trophies I had won. Frankly I had forgotten about them and hadn’t missed them at all.
But seeing them again caused me to reflect. Although the objects themselves are not important to me now, they had meant something to me at the time and they represent something important that has remained and is now integrated into my life. These trophies, plaques, certificates, etc., were a visual representation of some potential I had that had just begun to come to fruition.
The lasting achievement was in the doing that lead up to and continued beyond the receiving of the honor. The Cub Scout patches and Boy Scout merit badges and various sports trophies and academic certificates did represent hard work, but it wasn’t just the work that I had done. Although my name is on the object, the names of my den and troop leaders, my parents, my coaches and teachers, my teammates, my Church leaders and even historic role models whom I had never met should be on there. WE DID accomplish some things together.
These awards and honors, if we keep them—and we can keep them with a measured amount of pride tempered with appreciation to others as suggested above—can be a challenge and a reminder of something that can be done in the future. These can be and should be symbols or predictors for our future. We should not just live in the past, or think that there is no future for as Yogi Berra wisely said, “it’s not over until it’s over.” Eternal progress is an Eternal principle; we pay a price and can enjoy the reward. Our old laurels should be a springboard for us to achieve great things in perhaps some entirely new arena. Boing….
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