Reliving Life's Experiences through Pondering

Reliving Life’s Experiences through Pondering

September 16, 2013                       

Pondering  is an Exciting Avenue to Remembering Life’s Experiences

It’s really interesting where your thoughts can go when you release them from the regiment of everyday activities. I try to set aside a little ponder time as often as possible. This morning my thoughts went back to a day in my past that has become quite significant in my life. That particular day was a very cold day in the winter season. My father and I were busy doing our morning chores.

I would rather have found a warm place to spend my time. The cold was just plain miserable. Any good farmer knows that you feed the animals before you feed yourself and so that’s what we were doing. When we had completed that morning routine, my dad was driving the tractor and I was standing behind him. I was using his body as a windbreak from the cold.

As we were nearing home and the comfort of a warm fire, we came upon a stranger struggling to walk through the blowing snow. This was very unusual that someone we didn’t know would be walking down that road. Dad stopped the tractor to inquire of his needs. He explained that the blinding snow had caused him to drive off the road and into a snowdrift. He had walked quite a way to meet us. My father invited him to hop upon the tractor and sit on the fender and we would take him to where his car was stuck in the snowbank.

So much for the thought of getting back to the warm stove in our home. Off we went to our new destination. My father was that way…it seemed he was always looking for an opportunity to help someone. My thoughts as a young, cold boy was…”Why not take me home first?”

We eventually found the stranded vehicle. Dad quickly backed the tractor up to the back of the car and said, “Son, hook the chain on”, and in about two minutes, the car was freed from the snowdrift.

The stranger was thankful and happy. His joy warmed my heart as I felt good about being able to participate in this good turn. After all I was an active boy scout, and their motto is to “do a good turn daily”.

The man was so grateful and he took his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled out a hundred dollar bill and handed it to my dad. That was the first time I had ever seen a $100 bill. I became excited and thought, “We are rich!” However the excitement was short lived as my father handed the bill back and said, “We can’t take that.” Disappointment filled my soul and as we turned the tractor towards home, I asked Dad , “Why? he’s a wealthy man. He can afford it!”

As we drove home, I got the lesson of my life. He explained about good turns; a good turn isn’t a good turn if you get paid for doing it. He introduced me to the warm feeling in my heart. He taught me that you can build a fire in your heart on the coldest of days when you’re in the service of someone else. I’m so glad that Dad took me along with him that cold winter day. This lesson of service has been a staple of my life.

As I have embarked on this new journey with Empower Network, I feel with every person I spread the good word to, I am allowing them to reach a place of potential in their lives that they had never felt possible before. All you have to do it look into it. If you do it with the intent of becoming the best version of you, you will find the value in it that I have found.