Encore

While my second term may have officially started late last month, the second year of my service as Secretary of the lodge didn’t really start until the stated meeting this past week. When I look back I am proud of all that we have accomplished as a lodge over the last twelve months and I am glad that I was able to play a small role in ensuring our growth and overall success. Of course, that is all in the past now and we are already moving quickly to get this new year off to a fast start. And during the first stated meeting of the year that is exactly what took place.

We didn’t get the petitions that I had hoped to receive during the meeting but everything else went as planned and the calendar was outline for all the brethren in attendance. There are a lot of items on our list of events, more than last year, and additional support is now in place for new brothers. I guess you could say that it is a natural progression from last year but that is never a guarantee and it was good to see that we are all doing our parts to keep the significant momentum going. Hopefully we don’t have the same kinds of bumps (and drastic detours) along the way that we experienced after this past summer.

It has been a year of mostly highs with a few chaotic moments thrown in to make us appreciate the fellowship and support that we offer one another as brothers. It has also been a tremendous time of learning as there were many times over the course of the past year that I had to step back, take a look at what needed to be done, and educate myself as to the process, limitations, and/or actions that could be taken. In the end, we all came together, grabbed the wheel, and made sure that we turned the corner.

This year there are things that will certainly be easier as I have now done them at least once before but there are also much higher expectations that I am setting for myself as well as my fellow brothers. We need to continue our growth, increase involvement, and make sure that all the processes and programs are set up in such a way that they can be sustained for years to come. Thankfully, given what I have seen from both established and new brothers alike, this new mentality and light that has been found is something that will definitely continue and our lodge will remain a proud example of what Masons can do when they truly consider one another brothers.

Learning How To Get Back Up

I was never a particularly tough child. I remember complaining and crying when I got hurt and not wanting to push through minor injuries when participating in sports or playing with friends. While not as bad as some that I can remember, I was by no means a tough child. I learned how and enjoyed pushing through injuries later in my youth but it took some time and a bit of determination to overcome the weaknesses I had when I was smaller (I can’t say that I was ever actually ‘small’).

Over the years however, I have built up a tolerance for pain that is a bit baffling to some and considered stupid by others. From broken bones and dislocated joints to kidney stones and fighting Fibromyalgia, I have experienced all kinds of pain and only stopped when it was preventing me from living. I’ve set bones, popped joints back into place, put duct tape over large cuts, and simply walked things off when they really started to hurt. Up to that point I would keep pushing and pushing until finally I had no other choice than to give in and let myself heal. Of course, for the truly minor things like bad ankle sprains, dislocations, cold/flu, and migraines it was better to keep going and work my way through them.

This is the kind of thing that I want to instill in my son. Not to the extent that I have taken it but I don’t want him to let the small things stop him. Bumps and bruises are a part of living life especially when you are young and I want our son to enjoy every moment of growing up while he can. With that said, we have to do our part to let him fall and let him scrape his knees so that he can learn that it really isn’t that bad. Of course, we will always be there when he needs us but some things he is going to have to learn just by doing and experiencing.

All that we can really do is guide him and try to set him up for the long life ahead of him. Bumps (and bruises) are just minor things that happen along the way but you can just stop everything that you are doing when they happen. Life is still going on around you and if you take a break, there are potential memories that you will be missing. I guess you could say that I want to make sure that we instill in our son adversity as it has served us both incredibly well in our own lives. Hopefully we can get that message through to him early on… the same lesson that my parents tried teaching me which didn’t take hold until much later in my life.