Today I’m thankful for mentors. It doesn’t seem to matter what I need help with, I have people willing to give it, at a moment’s notice.
If there’s something up with one of the boys, and I need parenting advice, I have an army of grandmas all too willing to give me their opinion. And let me tell you, their advice has been invaluable. My writing? Countless people I can turn to. Career advice? That too. And the feedback I get is never what I expect.
That is the part I am thankful for the most. If I wanted to hear what I wanted to hear, what would be the point of asking someone else for their advice? Nine times out of ten, the advice or feedback I get, is something I would have least expected, or hadn’t thought of, or I never would have considered looking at from that perspective.
Today I need help. I put the call out at 7:27, via text to three people, all who have answered me already, telling me to let them know when and where today, and they’ll be there. A couple have work commitments, but offered to meet regardless. The bottom line is, I said I needed help, and they know I wouldn’t ask in the way that I did, if it wasn’t important.
I sincerely hope that others see me the same way. I know they do, I don’t have to hope. I get asked for advice all the time, and believe me, I don’t mind it at all. Pay it forward, pay it backward, no matter what, pay good karma out into the universe and it will come back to you ten-fold.
There are times we can’t see the forest for the trees. There have been so many times in my life when I’ve been too close to a situation to be able to view it objectively. Getting another opinion, another point of view, has helped me make better decisions.
Monument is full of mentor types. We are a community with a plethora of highly accomplished people who have chosen to live here. In the course of the last seven years, I have come to know so many, from differing walks of life, who are simply brilliant. Being a hub of retired Air Force officers adds to the brilliance bank, but there are others too.
I went to a meeting last year at the elementary school Beck goes to. It was a building advisory council meeting. We review all sorts of things that relate to the big picture of the school. This particular meeting took place not long after Sandy Hook. A man was sitting in the room when I arrived, I didn’t recognize him. When the meeting started, the principal introduced him as one of the top experts in the country on school shootings and school safety. Oh, and he’s also the parent of a student at that school.
He led us around the building and in less than an hour, we had a temporary plan in place, and I learned the district was seeking his council as well, to put a district plan together. The man is so far beyond brilliant. I learned more from him in ten minutes than I would’ve if I had taken a seminar. And he lives here.
Thankful again, we chose Monument, I love living here so much. Thankful for the other folks who chose to live here too. And thankful for their willingness to share their knowledge, be a friend, be a mentor.
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