Building Your Team (a Lesson From Pop Culture)

I found myself taking lights and garland off the tree the other night. Mr. Magoo, now two years old, was still up after a late evening nap. He had been watching me go back and forth around the tree as I unwound and untangled string after string of lights, and when I was on the far side of the tree he would say, "I can't see you, Mom." And fake surprise on my return to his side of the tree. 

We all need...

He finally laid down with his covers at about midnight. I worked on. The newborn - Marble - had fallen asleep as well and laid nearby on a Boppy pillow on the floor. I have always enjoyed the "mid" shift, from before I was in the Navy so many years ago. Comes from being part of a big family, I guess. It is a somewhat magical, thought-producing time of night when everything is quiet, there is no one asking questions or looking for attention and your mind can wander.

Well, inexplicably I had a thought about a scene in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Full caveat: It has been a long time since I read the books - and really since I even saw the movies - so while I think this line was in the book itself, it may have been added for the movies. Either way it was a moment that stood out for me at midnight earlier this week. 

a support team...

In the scene, the dwarf Gimli and Aragorn were battle buddies of a sort and getting ready to enter the fray. Aragorn was tall enough to make the leap from the bridge they were on into the entrance, but Gimli couldn't do it. Gimli looks at his friend, someone he is prepared to die with and for, and there in the build-up to this big fight scene, is a pause, a moment of vulnerability, of trust and openness between two men in a way that is not often seen in the pop culture drivel put out for public consumption today. 

"I cannot make the jump, you'll have to toss me!" 

I just love that the need for a strong male friendship and bond - and the trust that accompanies it - is shown. I also am taking it as a message for myself, a reminder: not one of us wins the battle alone, no matter the area of life. We have coaches, team mates, friends, supporters, cheerleaders - someone is there to encourage, pull, and sometimes toss us into the fray. We need to choose those team members wisely so we are supposed and uplifted and not led astray.

Who is on your trusted team of advisors?

My job is to be open to their help, and to be prepared and worthy of that help. To accept the help, but be unready or not worthy is to waste their time, and make success take far longer than it needs to in the end. 

to rise to our highest potential!

For me, 2014 is the Year to Overcome Challenges. I have several goals I've mapped out and am on my way to accomplishing. What are your challenges? Who makes up your support team? Where will you succeed this year??