Erich Stauffer

Tag: Life’s Journey

  • Running into the Future

    This is a guest post written by Zac Parsons:

    I do not have the body of a runner.  I barely have the body of an athlete.  When I see video of myself in physical activity, I wince like most of us do when we hear our voice on a recording and think “Is that really what I am like?”.  But, for whatever reason, in every stage of my life, I have run.  Today, I ran to the beat of this song, by Panic! at the Disco:

    The drum beat has fantastic cadence for my running stride.  I love letting the image of the video run through my mind as I run through the streets.  The Sgt. Pepperish outfits are a throwback to the 60’s, and the song dances back and forth with talk of the past and the future.  Even the title asks some clever questions:  “At what point would 9:00 ever be considered the afternoon?”  and “Is the afternoon the end of your daily rhythm, or the beginning?”

    In researching for this article, I discovered the band has since split up since writing and recording this song.  The remaining members (the drummer and the front-man), just released a new single entitled “New Perspective”.  The song doesn’t grab me right away, but the title and some of the lyrics seem to indicate a view towards the future and what could be, juxtaposed with what was.

    We’ve all heard the phrase “time marches on”, and it certainly does.  I sometimes wonder if growth and maturity are inevitable based on the ticking of a clock and the movement that must take place in the midst of the march.  In many cases, time does drag or push us into the future, whether we wish it to or not.  And that seems to be the difference: our wishes and intentional movement.  There is a future to be entered into, and it can be our choice of how and where we enter.

    I have this picture in my mind myself walking through life in between a set of parentheses.  If I start to feel sorry for myself and sit down to pout, the parentheses keep moving.  Eventually the lagging one is upon me and dragging me through the dirt, forward through life.  It’s when my focus is on the leading one when I am most content and at peace with life.

    Hope abounds.

    Optimism rains from the sky.

    Energy fills my heart and mind, and my body runs toward the future.  I think that this is part of the reason why most children are happy as a default setting in their lives.  With less to look back on, there is the future waiting to be entered into.  I also think this is why the phenomenon of a mid-life crisis is so rampant, and legitimate.  After getting “over the hill”, many of us want to scramble back to the top and enjoy the view.  Or even to climb back down to a part of the trail where the peak is still ahead on the horizon.

    Time is marching on.  It’s my responsibility to stay on my feet.  Right now, I’m running.

  • Life ROI

    How to judge the return on investments you’ve made in your life.

    Using the base point of a high school graduate or GED equivalent aged 17-18 years old, what life investments show the greatest ROI (return on investment).  Is it better to start working for another company right away to build experience and move up the corporate ladder or is it better to sit it out four years in college, then start at the bottom working for another company?  Is it better to attend a trade school or 2-year college then enter the workforce as a type of hybrid?  Is working for someone else better than starting out on your own in the beginning, middle, or late in your working life?  How does being married affect your success in life?  Does it matter if your spouse supports you or if you have an unhappy marriage?  How do children affect success?

    There are many metrics and many examples of each scenario.  It is hard to know how you want to end up when you are 17-18 years old, but if you could do it all over again – if you could share your experiences with someone just starting out – or just laid off and starting over – what advice would you give them?

    My Path

    After high school I attended college for 5 years during which time I got married and had children.  I graduated with a bachelors degree and a mountain of debt, going to school and working full time as a bank clerk during and after college.  It wasn’t until I went back to school to get Microsoft certifications that I could get beyond the clerk job.  The 6-month certification training nearly doubled my 5 year investment in college tuition and board.  I watched as peers who didn’t go to college at all were at or above my clerk level and were without the college loan debt.  The only thing that allowed me to move up was going beyond the BS degree.  Because of that experience I tend to recommend going straight into a technical training field or apprenticeship straight out of high shool whether you plan on working for someone else or yourself.  Become an expert in your field and above all, follow your passions, but listen to those around you.  If you keep hearing the same advice from different people, its probably right and should be considered.

    Success can be measured many different ways.  While children may take your time and energy, they also give you motivation and fulfil your innate desire to leave a legacy behind.  The joy and agony that comes from raising children is uncomparable to any other duty in life.  Have you ever heard that behind every good man is a great woman?  This is usually true if the man and wife are supportive and loving of each other.  A constant bickering under one roof can only restrain what could otherwise be successful endeavors.  How can we measure success?  How do you measure success?

  • People Watching in Utah

    I’m sitting in the Salt Lake City airport.  I’m casually doing some people watching.  There is a women’s college basketball team that has gone back and forth in their matching kelly green hooded sweat shirts and sweat pants.  They seem to be on their way to play a game, but they could be returning.  They are loose, laughing, casual, and seemingly a bit boy crazy.  They look my way now and again, maybe wondering if I am married or not.  It’s flattering, but I can’t really see myself “with” any of them.  It’s not that they aren’t physically attractive, they just can’t capture my attention at this point in my life.

    I have also noticed a good amount of older couples meandering through the terminal.  It’s interesting to notice all of their similarities, and not see too many differences.  They seem to move in tandem, with one leading the other.  So far, more men leading than women.  Both seem a little resigned to be with the other.  They probably want to go to the same place, but they don’t seem to be enjoying the journey to get there.  I look at the women and try to imagine them as girls once again.  Maybe they played on a basketball team at some point, “back in the day”.  Maybe they were boy crazy at one point too.  Maybe they latched on to one of these boys and ended up marrying one of them.  Walking down the aisle with stars in their eyes.  An end of innocence, a turning of the page.  But a page that they turn willfully, proudly, passionately even.

    The group of people I have been most struck by today have been the middle aged mothers.  I have always been drawn to young children.  Their joy for life is often impossible to contain, even in a sterile airport in February.  But its their mothers that are speaking to me today.  Not literally, but in the looks of pride on their faces.  There is a tangible sense of “I’m doing it!” beaming from them every time someone mentions how cute their son or daughter is.

    I’m not sure if it is this place, or my perspective that is different today.  Typically, the mothers I see tend to be worn out, beaten down, and ready for a break.  Perhaps it is the completion of the flight that is reason to celebrate, or at least smile for a bit.  Maybe it is the anticipation of the destination and the impending joy for their children and the trip that is almost upon them.  Maybe it’s none or all of these things.

    Maybe they saw the green machine basketball girls too.  Maybe they remembered what it was like to have such a fun and enjoyable task as a “job” and the excitement of a possible flirtatious encounter.  Maybe they saw the older couples as well and felt a different sense of pride for them, like an appreciation of a race well run.  That comfort of a companion who has cheered the same victories, and fought the same fights.  It’s something they look forward to, although with the same longing for love that they had as a young woman.  They seem to know that either way, there is a lot of life left to live, especially for their kids.  I’m happy to believe that these women still have for their own fulfillment and joy to long for and live in.

    The Joy of the Journey

    It is a long way from beginning to end, but there isn’t time to wish you were somewhere else on the journey.  Maybe you have kids, maybe you have a career, maybe you are student.  If you have starting something that you know will continute in the the future for a considerable amount of time, it only makes sense to enjoy it.  A lot of things in life feel like you “have to”.  The solution is to change your thinking into understanding that you “want to”.  Search around the site to find more ways to grow into this way of thinking.

  • Climbing up the Mountain…Literally

    The Challenge

    So, I put a challenge before myself: to hike to the top of the Upper Yosemite Falls Trail.  According to the official description on the National Parks website, it is a 3.6 mile trip up, with 2,700 feet in elevation gain.  You are told to plan on 6-8 hours of hiking time, with the grade of the trail listed as “strenuous”.  Being the middle of winter, it was also going to be cold, icy, and AWESOME.  I was eager to get started at noon.

    I brought a backpack filled with bottled water, triscuits, spray-can cheese, and some beef jerky.  The essentials, of course.  I took my time on the first few switchbacks, resting every 5 minute or so.  I figured that if I caught my breath, I could keep a good rhythm of work, rest, work, rest, etc.  It was very manageable and I made it to the halfway point.  Here was the view:  httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58a7mGfQ0bY

    Now, It had been about 2 hours, and I had enjoyed a lot of great view of the Yosemite Valley on the way.  But honestly, it hadn’t been much of a challenge.  I was barely hungry, thirsty, or tired.  I was staring at an amazing waterfall and rainbow, and I wanted to see the source of what created it.  After taking that video, I decided to eat the rest of my rations, chug some water, and just push it out the rest of way up the steepest part of the trail.  On the way up, I saw about 20 people at different levels of hiking and resting.  After the halfway point, I only saw 3 more people.  For a lot of people, the halfway point of the trail was the finish line.  I mean, that’s a pretty incredible view of the falls right there.  But for me, I had not been challenged enough yet, so I decided to go the rest of the way without stopping for more than 10 seconds at a time.

    Holy crap, did this hike kick my butt!  I had to trick my mind on every turn.  I would look up a rock staircase and see all of the steep steps in front of me, and feel like stopping.  But, I would convince myself to keep on going until the next turn, and then take a rest.  When I got to the turn, I told myself to just keep going and rest on the next turn.  I did this for every turn for the next 2 hours, and made it to the top.

    The reward

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmH2hKrECwU

    I felt so good that I had made it to the top.  I felt a huge sense of accomplishment.  The view from the top wasn’t breathtaking, but I had a real sense of how far I had come from the valley floor.  I had a ton of memories of all of the different turns and steps up the trail.  The journey meant so much more to me than the destination, when it was all said and done.  But, I wouldn’t have continued on the journey if I didn’t have something to reach at the end of the journey.

    Insert metaphoric language here.  During the trip, I was relating every step to a specific issue that I was dealing with.  It really made me examine how much ground I covered in a certain amount of time.  I was making progress.  I was moving forward.  I still am.  Do you have a way of measuring your progress on your journey?