By Greg Perry, Kirkland Realtor
"Every child is born blessed with a vivid imagination. But just as a muscle grows flabby with disuse, so the bright imagination of a child pales in later years if he ceases to exercise it." Walt Disney
Sunday morning, as I was shoveling snow, I had an inspiration. The snow bank that I was making with driveway snow looked like a great start of a snow fort. What a wonderful opportunity for a play day with my grandchildren (and my adult children!). We made the call and soon afterward our household was a beehive of excited kids of all ages planning our fort.
With a vision in mind and armed with shovels and plastic containers to create snow bricks, we started construction. We quickly organized into well oiled snow fort building machine. I shoveled the snow into the forms, my grandkids Kai and Maya packed and compressed them, and Kevin and Jennifer skillfully placed manufactured snow bricks to create the walls. We all had visions (especially Kai and Maya) of the big snowball fight we would have while taking turns defending the fort.
"Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe, and enthusiastically act upon must inevitably come to pass." Paul J. Meyer
We quickly discovered a small challenge. Our snow fort footprint was -- fairly large. This snow fort was starting to resemble HARD WORK. Brick after brick after brick. Shovel in the snow and pack it tight. Progress was feeling slow. Attention spans were starting to wane......
We came face to face with the principle of PERSISTENCE.
"Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”
And so we pressed on. The kids started singing that old Christmas classic "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer". I had mixed feelings about this song as I realized that I was "Grandpa". Mom, Jennifer, kept the kids on task, however. We will persist until we succeed! She kept reminding them of our goal and kept encouraging them to keep working hard.
As the snow fort was taking shape we stopped to make a decision. Is that row high enough? No! We chose excellence. Kevin determined we would need 30 more bricks for completion. Wow! 30 more! Seemed like a lot, but we PERSISTED.
Grandma, who really didn't get run over by the Reindeer brought us a plate full of toasted cheese sandwiches. I NEVER had one taste better. We were all feeling APPRECIATION right then.
Finally, our snow fort was finished! We all felt a sense of ACCOMPLISHMENT.
Jim Rohn has a few quotes on Accomplishment:
"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment." and "For every disciplined effort there is multiple reward".
I agree.
I'm really proud of that snow fort. I find myself continually walking to the window to gaze over it........and I don't regret my sore back and stiff shoulders.
Each year, millions of Americans enjoy the convenience of shopping online. Some consumers, however, choose to battle the crowded stores and long lines because they believe that's the only way to find and take advantage of the best holiday savings. But what if you could shop online, knowing that you got a good deal on the item... without having to invest hours of your valuable time pounding the streets or surfing all over the Internet to ensure the lowest price?
