by Steve Trombulak

 

She says, “I don’t care what you do for a living.”

But I do, and I want to know why you do it.

Does it feed your soul?

Will it feed the world?

Will it lead you to your heart’s longing?

 

Or is it merely a safe path

A safe haven

Chosen for reasons you are embarrassed to say.

A betrayal to your own life and a world

That needs you now to dig in with both hands.

 

She says, “It doesn’t matter to me where or what or with whom you’ve studied.”

But I disagree.

I want to know all of these things …

And I really want to know what you have learned.

 

What books have you read and how did they change you?

And how would you change them?

What have you written, and how has that unlocked your ability

To dream of a better world?

And will it all lead to you teaching others what you’ve learned?

Making them makers of more knowledge …

And more makers.

 

She says, “It doesn’t interest me how you came to be here.”

Really?  How can that possibly be?

I can think of nothing more important about understanding who you are

Than knowing where you came from.

 

And how you got from there to here

And why you chose that path

Or how you found the courage to travel a path

Chosen for you

Despite the debris and detours.

That will tell me much about whether I can count on you

To stand with me in the fire

Or in the dark

Outnumbered naked

Armed only with the truth.

 

I don’t want to know if you can live with failure.

I want to know if you can learn from it

With eyes clear

So that when you stand at the edge of the lake

You shout, “I will never make that mistake

Again,” and mean it.

 

I don’t want to know if you can see beauty everyday.

I want to know if you can bend your back

And break a sweat

To create beauty and be a source of strength

And inspiration for those who need it.

 

Let me peer into the house you have built.

Let me know what you will stand for

And who you will stand with.

Let me know who you are striving to become so that

I might know if I can stand with you.

 

 

copyright 2012 by Steve Trombulak