In 221 B.C., a Chinese emperor of Qin decided to link all the small separate walls across China to help protect them from raiders in the north. Over 450 years later and over 13,170 miles covering 9 provinces and municipalities, the Great Wall of China was completed. There were approximately 400,000 workers who died in the midst of constructing that wall. Although many of the workers were forced to assist, you will agree that it took many committed people along the way to complete this work. Still today, there are as many as 70,000 people visiting the wall each day.
When a leader has a dream for an organization (or a country), it takes many hands, hearts and minds to complete the work. During the work, it can get frustrating or even boring without the right encouragement. It must have been grueling and exhausting when the workers of the Great Wall lived and died without seeing the final result of their labor. Sometimes I feel that way – I'm sure you do too. I think commitment to the vision is another part of the creation process.
And what difference does it make anyway? Was this my idea or someone else's? Why am I doing this when I could be doing something I want to do? We make choices every day about what we will do and how we will make an impact on the world. Many of our campus co-workers are here because of our combined work to help older adults reach their own potentials.
For every day that we decide to work at the campus, we also are being changed. We are becoming more like the people we admire in our lives. The potential for personal change is incredible!
It reminds me of a great quote by John H. Schaar, “The future is not some place we are going, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made. And the activity of making them changes both the maker and the destination.”
Creating something new will create someone new.
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