Mountains

I am completely distracted. Thinking about a recent conversation and then my thoughts turned to Anthony for some reason. The conversation was about challenges and Anthony found a way to offer guidance.

As to the conversation of challenges, I have no answers. I can tell you that we were raised never to quit. I know that. It may be from our parents, it may be from our sports, it may be both.

Our parents instilled in us a certain character that said you don't give up on something just because it is hard. And you don't complain, you don't whine.

Sports gave us mountains to climb. Whether we were faced with the actual granite beneath our boots and under our fingertips or with the theoretical mountain of a season in front of us every year, we were trained not to turn back. If the hill got steep, we buckled down, took a breath and kept on climbing. If we fell behind in score, we didn't give up on that game. We would battle through the third period and claw our way back until that final buzzer.

And with all of this in my mind, I've been thinking of Anthony as well. I read today's XKCD.com comic and didn't get it. It's not the first time. Anthony and I used to puzzle over some of his previous drawings and the tenets of the humor or philosophy would often elude us, even after a Google search. And so I looked back at old favorites.

And

And then I turned to Anthony's website. I was looking for some sort of answer, or inspiration, or image. I read a few of his blog postings. And I found this.

The image said it all to me. Anthony walking the line. Visually and realistically, he's going there, he isn't coming here. That's what we all do, isn't it? We should constantly be going. We need to be looking out at the horizon because the moment we turn off the world, we will ultimately turn off our dreams. We can't give up on our dreams, our vision, because they are often comprise our will to live. We have to hang on to those things to truly live and find our rewards.

Ultimately, I turned to Anthony's "image a day" calendar from a few years back. And I picked the January 15th image. Because it was today...albeit two years ago. And I got a chill because Anthony was suddenly speaking to me about last night's conversation.

http://www.anthonysloan.com/2008/Jan15.html

"One picture, three different focus points."

In hockey, there are multiple perspectives. There are two teams, each holding a unique perspective. There is a third team of officials who are required to see everything even though that is impossible. There are fans who watch who interpret every play into a combination of millions of derivatives. And then there is a league who oversees it all and offers a final say when called upon. Or sometimes they don't. Silence is sometimes the best tool...the best approach.

But that is just a game.

In life, there is so much more. The perspectives are multiplied exponentially. The consequences are far greater...it isn't just a game. The outcome? The outcome is life.

Our training as officials is that there is more than one take to every play just as there is more than one story for each day, each hour, each minute of life. We see it through our eyes but we need to remember that there are different focal points. What is important to me may not be important to you. The only way to figure that out is to talk.

But that brings us back to how we were raised. To not complain. We lower our heads and will keep beating at that brick wall until it crumbles. That is what we are supposed to do.

But it isn't.

We need to remember that in life, we need to open up. Sometimes we need to address these challenges with words and not actions. Sometimes both. And sometimes those discussions will take place not between the two that have created the wall but with others who will help us break down that wall.

As I told my friend during our conversation, I don't want my wife to ever feel like she is a single mother. There are two of us raising this wonderful daughter of ours. We both work hard; at our jobs and at home. I am doing my best to make sure she feels supported in all she does so that we can face this veritable mountain of life together. Hand in hand. And together, we are going to win. We'll carry each other, we'll laugh, we'll cry. But in the end, we are going to get there together. We are going...always going.

Conversations like that aren't taken lightly. They aren't a burden but they always make me think. We learn from each other.

You and I, we are going to win too.