I know this will seem like a drastic subject change here, and the English teacher in me is making red pen marks about a non-existent transition, but hang with me! This past summer we went with friends that were visiting to the Tuckaleechee Caverns here in Tennessee. Now, if you've never been to any sort of underground caverns, you definitely should make that happen! It's unbelievable that as much beauty and splendor that exists on TOP of the Earth, there is just as much and more beneath the ground.
From the moment we set foot in the caverns, our eyes feasted on towering stalactites and crawling stalagmites. Each one was so beautifully unique and carefully crafted over thousands of years....one drip at a time. Some were only a few inches tall, others were towering past a hundred feet. There were areas worn into the smoothest bowl-shaped formations I had ever seen. Regardless of the shape, size, and texture, or form of these astounding each held a remarkable symbol of who we are as humans that is typically lost when looking at them with just your eyes.
Stalagmites are formed by the calcium and mineral deposits in dripping water that slowly collect over time until a strong rock-formation rises from the ground, and they're typically characterized by smooth, rounded tops. Conversely, stalactites are also made from dripping water containing minerals; however, stalactites hang from the ceiling of a cave and progressively grow downwards into a pointed, often very sharp tip. Furthermore, there are areas where dripping water has worn into bowl-shaped dips and holes in the stone.
These formations symbolize how we can effect those around us. We are all created with unique skills, talents, experience, and gifts that make us who we are, but it's what we do with them that creates an impact and leaves a legacy if we so choose. Everyday we engage with family, friends, colleagues, bosses, community members, etc., etc., and we have a choice. By sharing all that we're made of with those around us, we have the opportunity to build people into tall, strong smooth-topped structures that continue to grow over time. Or....we can be someone who slowly wears someone to a point that will eventually stop and appear uninviting. They will constantly have to fight to hang on because they've doing it for so long. Sooner or later, the weight will become more than they can bear and they'll fall and crumble into a million pieces. Some will slowly be worn away into a rounded hole that will blend into the stone around them and will never really grow into anything more than just a bigger bowl. Each formation formed by the same method, but what becomes of them depends on what is contained in each drip.
Whether you're a leader, manager, boss, father, mother, colleague, friend, or family member, you have an opportunity. Ask yourself if what you're sharing with others is creating a developing, strong, monolith that others will want to gaze at and know more about. Are you only sharing things that slowly wear people to a hard, sharp point? Will the weight they carry eventually force them to lose the fight to "just hang on" and fall and crumble into a pile? Or are you constantly wearing away on someone and creating a indifferent, oblivious form that soon just gets wider and blends in, or you drip right through them altogether?
If you're not leaving others with the idea that they can be more than they are right now and challenging them to become bigger than they thought they could be, are you really creating a legacy? If the people who are around you on a regular basis don't have aspirations of doing and being more, then ask yourself why not? They need empowerment. They need encouragement. They need your positive gifts and motivation so don't withhold them from them! Don't live in fear that they might grow bigger than you and overshadow you altogether. It's actually quite the contrary. When skyscrapers are built, nobody looks at them and says, "That building really built itself into an amazing structure!" The building didn't build itself, the architect who dreamt it and the hands that created it all had a bigger vision than the one on the blueprint and believed that the finished product would speak for their vision, skills, and knowledge. What we have and give to others isn't always a nicely wrapped "thing" in a box with a pretty bow on top; it's often teaching, empowering, or leading them to the water and letting them figure out how to cross the river and then cheering for them when they reach the other side.
