Domino chain
#crossbytes One decision, like one domino tipped, can create a link leading from your present to your future.
Imagine if you will, a line of dominoes, 25,000 of them. One domino pushed animates a swirling, whirling mass of artistry and blazing color. Think of the grandeur as patterns emerge, morph and flower. Now, image if just one of those dominoes is removed. The entire chain breaks.
When I was in school, my history classes covered a theory that was called the domino principle. During the cold war, the theory proclaimed that if democratic countries allowed one small country to fall into Soviet control, then it would begin a chain reaction that resulted in much of the known world being under communist control. For this reason, the United States got involved with Korea and with Vietnam.
Think about the decisions you have to make. You should approach every decision that you make with the idea that its repercussions could be felt for the rest of your life. Most of the time when we think about this, we think about only the bad decisions we have made. We need to adjust our thinking.
Let me tell you a story. When I was a junior in high school, I decided to become a teacher. I loved learning and sharing knowledge but more than anything else, I had two teachers whom I wished to emulate. Don't ever think that your actions don't influence others. And you don't have to be a teacher for this to happen.
I came from a poor family, so I knew that I would need financial help to attend college. One of the scholarships I decided to accept was a teaching scholarship. It was quite a generous sum for its time, but it came with one stipulation: I had to teach for two years or else I would have to pay the scholarship back. My dad talked to me about it. lining up the pros and cons. In the end, I decided to take the scholarship.
I graduated with honors and got my first teaching job. Unfortunately, for me, the first year I taught was the worst teaching year of my life. I despised. Now, I won't say that there weren't some very rewarding moments that first year because there were. However, the rewards were not great enough to balance the ba moments out.
I resigned from this job. In actuality, it probably was one of those situations where I might have been fired had I not resigned. Only one thing kept me from leaving teaching after that year. You guessed it. The scholarship I received. I couldn't afford to pay half of the money I had gotten from it.
Well, I thought to myself. Surely, I can make it through one more year, and then I could quit. This is where Arcadia Valley High School in Ironton, MO saved me. I was hired there despite some of their misgivings. News that I had not had a great first year reached them. The schools were only about 12 miles apart. I took the job, and my eyes opened to what teaching really should be.
Because of this job, I realized that teaching was my destiny. I taught for over 30 years, and I'd like to think that I did more good than harm. While I taught at this school, I met my wife. My wife introduced me to the greatest church I have ever attended. The Arcadia Valley United Methodist Church is where I met role models whose life and witness have inspired me ever since. Me attending this church led to my becoming a lay speaker who often delivered the message when the pastor was gone, to being in the choir, to helping with the youth and children's ministry. Our daughter was born when we lived in Ironton. My daughter married a man from this town and they now have two children, the joys of my wife's and my lives.
All of this resulted from one decision. One domino falling.
Before you push that domino, consider where the rest will fall in your future. Make careful decisions. As Robert Frost said, Way leads onto to way. Make sure the way your dominoes are falling is the way where you want them to go.
