The Sky is still the limit

Changing your Perspective (and limits)

 

When I was in high school, my expectations were that I was going to be a math teacher - period.  I went off to college and somehow became a leader - Student Senate, Dorm Assistant, Fraternity officer, and in several organizations.  In the old lingo, I was a “Big Man on Campus” (BMOC).  

 

Somehow graduation occurred and I hadn’t really done any planning - my days of leadership were over, time to get a job!!  Without much energy I took what was almost the first position that was in front of me.  There was a vague idea of graduate school down the line, but I needed money for that.  So, off to Prairie du Chien Wisconsin (on the Mississippi River) and West Grant High School for two years.  (And I saved very nicely for graduate school - and paid off a used car - a Plymouth Barracuda). I had an apartment on the second floor of an old house for $75 a month.

 

Then back to graduate school and got my master’s degree - and my “MR” degree as I found a potential wife.  Again, my expectation was to be a math teacher.  Ho hum.

 

Call it desire, call it wanting more, God started a spark in my life - to teach on the college level.  After all I now had a master’s degree in math - almost free as a graduate assistant in math and a resident hall director.   

 

I’m not sure when I heard of BHAG - Big Hairy Audacious Goal - the term was largely used to refer to President Kennedy's call to put a man on the moon within a decade!!  (That was BIG, and HAIRY, and AUDACIOUS!!).  

 

The opportunity came to teach on the college level (and I believed it was God’s providence).  Then the opportunity to get a doctorate.  It wasn’t like I was really stretching, but the opportunities came and I took advantage.  

 

But, with new opportunities, my horizon had changed, my perspective had changed.  You may have seen my graphic on the Information Education with Dr.White page.  It is a photo of the giant artwork in the center of Kennedy Hall.  I call it “The Sky is the Limit” mural.  As I understand it, the bottom layer is books covered over in a clay-red color that represents the bedrock of South Dakota (Dell Rapids Quartzite).  Then the small towns and farms of the areas - building up into the blue sky.  The mural is like a giant jigsaw puzzle and as it reaches to highest point in Kennedy Center, some pieces are missing.  The sky might be the limit, but there are gaps in our lives.  Education can fill in some of those gaps, experience can fill in some of the gaps.  

 

Some days, my sky is about 10 feet over my head - I can never reach for the skies, reach for the stars.  But most days, the sky is truly the limit.  I have come to expect to be in the clouds.

 

Yes, I have retired from my teaching, and I have retired from my former life.  But, on a whole different plane, I am still reaching for the stars.  I anticipate additional changes in my life - but those changes are (and will be) based on love, on acceptance, on forgiveness, and living my life in a limitless perspective of life.  

 

I don’t expect (and really don’t want) to be on national commissions again, and my name may not be on anyone’s tongue - and that is okay.  I can become a ‘nobody’ in the eyes of the world, and a ‘somebody’ that is doing good things for humanity.  It might be good things for seniors, or good things for homeless seniors, or good things for transgender women or something that hasn’t happened yet.  I have to keep my eyes and ears open for “the call’.  

 

Biblically, when John the Baptist saw Jesus, he announced “He must increase, and I must decrease” (John 3:30).  I am to love - and I still have a lot to learn - and a lot of junk to get out of my heart on my way.  Sometimes I am surprised what negative thoughts are still in my brain and I’m working through them.

 

So, the sky is still my limit - but maybe in a slightly different focus.  And how about you?  Are you moving in your comfort zone - outward or inward?  Are you becoming more of a lover, and a healer?

 

Hugs!!

 

Karen