This will be the last in the series about lessons I’ve learned from my daughters.  We’ve talked about celebrating first steps, recognizing each other, showing appreciation, overcoming obstacles, and saying “Yes!…and” to invisible bull fights.  I want to end this series by talking about a different game I play with Alice that is all about connecting people.

One of Alice’s favorite games is called Camelot Junior.  It’s a puzzle game you play with wooden blocks.  You use those wooden blocks to build bridges to connect two characters.  Each puzzle starts with you setting up the knight and princess on two separate towers.  Then you use blocks to build a bridge, so the two characters can meet in the middle.  In our house, the characters meet in the middle to talk about really important stuff like dragons, saving the kingdom from bad guys, and dance moves.

After you connect the two characters you move to the next challenge.  The game comes with an instruction book that tells you how to set up different puzzles and which blocks you are allowed to use to build the bridge in each situation.  As you progress throughout the game, connecting the characters becomes more and more difficult as the characters are placed further apart and you have to use blocks in new and creative ways to build the bridge.

What does this have to do with anything?  Much like the game, life is about building bridges between two people, so they can connect in the middle.  Depending on the two people and their backgrounds, they might start out really close together or they could be really far apart.  In the grand scheme of things, the distance between the two people doesn’t matter.  What matters is whether or not you are willing to try to bridge that gap.  All that matters is whether or not you are willing and able to find the right blocks to start building a bridge to connect with other people.  Are you willing to take the first step and begin building the bridge?  Are you willing to put in the time to understand others, so you can find new blocks that will connect you with each other? 

The challenge:  How are you building a bridge between you and the people around you?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry