Here's to all the Giants in our lives...

A Giant of a Man

 

A giant of a man stood before me,

I trembled in fear for I a child of three.

But this Giant seemed different than others I had seen

He wasn’t really scary, not the slightest bit mean.

 

This Giant a constant, through my childhood,

A calming presence, bringing only good.

A Tenderness in this giant I found,

For a growing sprout, I found solid ground.

 

A giant of a man stood before me,

Hard work he said you will find is the key.

Two dollars to pile wood shaped like stakes?

I’d have done it for free, for goodness sake.

 

This Giant worked with me side by side,

To keep up this Giant, Oh how I tried.

But his energy level it never decreased,

The man never slowed down, he worked like a beast.

 

A Giant of a man stood before me,

But I am now a man of thirteen, surely he must see.

I put out my hand, for my strength I would show.

His grip buckled my knees; how could it be so?

 

This Giant showed me many a skill,

 And I the young pupil wanted my fill.

I thought Giant’s educations were limited so,

And yet how he made my knowledge of the world grow

 

I returned from college to visit the giant,

In respect I came, there was no defiance.

Where is the giant, his presence I ask? 

And out came my Grandpa, age was his mask.

 

A Giant of a man stood before me,

Elderly, yes, but his presence still dwarfed me.

This giant of a man, never afraid of the day,

Work must be done; it’s the only way.

 

Where is the Giant, his advice I now seek?

A man I have become of a child so meek.

Stature decreased and time has slowed his pace,

With a Giant of a man I now stand face to face.

 

A Giant of a man, once stood before me,

I welcome the giant, but how can it be?

The giants now my size in stature you see.

But in my mind a giant he will always be.

 

The call I received that the Giant is gone,

It cannot be true, you must be wrong.

No, it is true, even Giants must go

Even out of giants the life force must flow.

 

How I loved the Giant, but the words were not there,

God, please tell him I loved him; it just wasn’t fair.

I didn’t tell him in person, and sorry am I,

Alone with my thoughts, and the tears that I cry.

 

Grandpa, I’ll miss you, how can this be?

The family I’ve raised you won’t get to see.

In strength and honor I grow your family tree,

For a giant of a man once stood before me. 

Your Life! Are you creating a Masterpiece?

He thought about the conversations he would have many years from now with his grandson and staying focused on creating a life worth sharing.  As he got out his painting supplies he thought about how life is a painting and we all hope to create a masterpiece someday that will hang in the memories of others but unlike the blank canvas that we was looking at we aren’t the ones who start the painting.  We don’t get to pick the canvas we want to use or the initial strokes of paint.  We don’t choose our parents and thus the environment we are raised in.  Life is definitely not paint by numbers set. There is not instruction on which color to put where, but then again there are no paint by number paintings hanging in museums.  You won’t find any paint by number paintings that are revered as masterpieces. We receive a product that is the accumulation of the good and bad of others.  Some people want to help us create our masterpiece and carefully guide us to learning how to complete the work, encouraging us to make bolder strokes, teaching us how to blend colors and have a vision of what we can accomplish. While others carelessly throw paint around; some even damage the canvas and the frame.  There is pain and heart ache represented as cuts, tears or burns to our canvas.  And yet regardless of the shape of the painting when we become aware of it, it becomes our responsibility to complete the work. 

 Sadly, he thought, so many people give up and live with the painting they have been given and resign themselves to the state it is in and never seek to turn it into a masterpiece.  Or worse allow people to continue to damage their painting.  We have no choice as a child of who are parents were and where we were raised but as we move into adulthood we have complete control over who we allow to access our developing masterpiece.  Our beliefs become our destiny and if we give up believing in ourselves and the possibilities that exist we give up on our masterpiece and yet so many people surround themselves with people who have also given up on their masterpiece.  Their world becomes small and flat and their masterpiece goes unfinished.

Yet others acknowledge the state of the painting and then decide what they need to do to begin to turn it into a masterpiece, day by day they make a few new strokes, begin to repair the broken frame, the tears, cuts and burns and move closer to the end result.  They learn new techniques and work toward mastery.  They seek out others who can help them work on their masterpiece; coaches, supporters, instructors and mentors.  They accept responsibility for completing the work and who they allow access to their developing work of art.  They befriend and collaborate with others who are working to develop their own masterpiece and encourage them.   They see all of the possibilities hidden in the developing work.  They realize that you can’t create a masterpiece overnight.   It will take years of effort but that the journey will be worth it and someday their children and grandchildren will marvel at the masterpiece that was created.  Then they will be ready to coach and guide them to developing their own masterpiece.

 He thought about the future and the conversations he would have with his grandson and having a better answer to ‘what did you do with what I gave you?’  But, there is still a lot of painting to be done to complete his life master piece.

The conclusion from my book "Life Pioneers:  The Edge of Possibility!"  check it out on www.alifepioneer.com or on Amazon.