A Word from God’s Waiting Room

You’ve probably heard someone say, “I feel like I’m butting my head against a brick wall.”  Anyway, I’ve heard it many times, and the context of the conversation is almost always about encountering a difficulty or an insurmountable object, an obstacle.  I’ve bumped against several brick walls, in my life some rather thick, some quite high–all are tough.

I finished reading Randy Pausch’s book, THE LAST LECTURE, recently.  In it, the author has a chapter entitled, Romancing the Brick Wall.  The chapter title got my attention because I never thought about romancing an inanimate object.  Randy said “The brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough.”  Somehow in all my years of living did I ever perceive a brick wall as being there to stop me from wanting to achieve something badly enough.  To me, they were brick walls–plain and simple.  Passing a French Language proficiency exam or a statistic course represented a brick wall to me.  Yes, I did pass them, but I just viewed them as hurdles or mountains I’d have to climb for the prize I coveted.  But, this is not about me, its about brick walls.

Randy’s had encountered many brick walls and had gotten through them, but the most formidable one he faced was getting a date with his future wife.  Here was a thirty-seven year old bachelor who found the woman of his dreams with a brick wall between them.  I won’t tell you the whole story in case you haven’t read the book, but I do want to share with you the last sentences of that chapter, “Brick walls are there for a reason.  They give us a chance to show how badly we want something.” 

You know, when you recognize that brick walls you face are there for a reason, you can think about them differently.  Perhaps they are there to teach us something; to help us grow or to help us sharpen our persistence in accomplishing our goals.  Beginning today, I will try to look at the next brick wall I face as a positive–not a negative. 

By the way, I thought Randy’s book was inspirational; I recommend it.