Like a whitewater
river, life is fast, unpredictable and full of rocks. It has fast currents and
swirling currents, and sometimes you get turned around and don't know which way
you're going. You'll be paddling along fine when suddenly the water gets fast
and rough, but because of what you've learned at Scouts and from your parents,
you know you have to paddle harder to keep your boat straight downstream.
You try hard to
avoid rocks, but inevitably you'll hit one, scratching your paint and sometimes
leaving a dent. But it helps you to read the river better, and you'll miss that
rock the next time.
Sometimes, you come
up against a fallen tree, blocking the entire river, and maybe even swamping
your boat. Does that stop you? Do you give up? No, you have to get to your
destination, so you suck it up and muscle your boat around the obstacle and
keep going.
When you're river
paddling, you sometimes encounter two ways to go. You only have a minute or two
to make a decision. Using what you see and what you've learned, you make a
choice. That choice might be the right one, and you keep on paddling. But
sometimes you make a decision, and it's a dead end, or filled with snags. All
you can do is admit you made a mistake, and go back, and take the right way.
Without all these
obstacles, the river would be flat and kind of boring. Whitewater, like life,
can be scary and challenging, but it has many great fun times making memories
along the way.
Because life can be
fast an unpredictable try your best to make every minute count. I'd like to think I did as Scoutmaster for
those 90 minutes each week and 1 weekend a month. Perhaps that's why I never liked going to
sleep while camping because I didn't want to miss a second of it. Never take anything for granted, life can
change in an instant; such is the saying "here today and gone
tomorrow".
The obstacles and
challenges we encounter in life can be overcome with 3 important things; An
attitude of gratitude, a POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE, and a good friend that
sticks by your side - LOYALTY. You don't
see that much in today's world.
I was once speaking
with the VP of Coca Cola and asked him what his definition of success was and
he stated that it was 3 things:
- Something to Do (have a passion)
- Someone to Love (Spouse, Child, other)
- Something to Hope for (faith)
Those had been my
principles but I would challenge it a step further by adding one more:
- Have and attitude of Gratitude (PMA).
I believe in God's
perfect timing. I have seen His plan in
my life too often to deny it. I had
never planned on being a Scoutmaster, not for lack of knowledge or experience
but because of my reverence for the position.
However, during the summer of 2017 when you all (the boys) had asked me
to be their next Scoutmaster how could I refuse? I have been grateful each and every day being
Scoutmaster for the last 19 months. I
have prayed for each of you daily and weekly and with that same gratitude I
believe that this was the right time, the right place (of all the troops I
could be involved with), and the right set of boys and adults that I could have
served as Scoutmaster. These last 19
months have been the BEST time of my adult Scouting career because of the right
timing and although I may never be able to participate in another camping trip
I will cherish every trip that I was a part of with the Troop and talks around
the campfire and faces of excitement with new experiences and adventures. I only hope that I have made the same impact
on your life as you ALL have made on mine.
For that I will forever be grateful to have been your Scoutmaster.
