Moments
Weekly Update 5/14/2023 to 5/20/2023 #173
This week, I had a conversation about looking back and writing down what helped shape our lives. Before I wander down this path though, let me share some of my week serving as mayor of the best smalltown in America.
I had a chance to visit with fellow mayors this week and realize how well we are doing here in Seymour. Those visits always remind me that no matter how large or small our communities are we all face the same problems just on different scales. I also get a chance to hear about their accomplishments then I venture down a path of comparing them to what we have going on here. We are making progress in so many areas without adding tax dollars to get the ball rolling. We have jobs, we are adding housing, we are paving roads, and so much more. Thank you to all my fellow mayors for sharing your stories and ideas because as we share, it helps each of us build better tomorrows for our areas.
During the advisory committee meeting of the Brookings Study, we had a chance to explore several pieces that have come up as part of the group meetings and individual conversations. We also did some exercises with tracing paper throwing ideas at different areas of Seymour to see what might stick for later. I have to admit that sometimes it isn’t easy to wipe away the negative pasts that you are aware of. While we have to keep history in our thoughts, we can not dwell on it if we are trying to dream about the future. Sometimes, we have to look to the stars to be able to see how the future could look if everything aligns to allow our growth to be all it can possibly be. Thanks to everyone that made the advisory committee meeting and continues to work on what the future might hold.
Another week and another new officer sworn in at Seymour Police Department. Congratulations to Sabastian Johnson on joining SPD. It was a pleasure getting to meet your family and seeing how proud they were as they watched you say your oath. The real work starts soon as you start your training and spend hundreds of hours preparing to protect and serve our community as many do and have done before you.
Back to how to narrow down the moments that helped make us who we are. While we didn’t have any perfect answers in our conversation, we did talk about how many moments led to who we are. I asked the question on social media to see what that one moment in your life was. Seventy-seven people shared and the answers varied tremendously. The loss of loved ones, finding sobriety and having it stick around, mental illness, and growing in faith all made the list. I am not going to try to dive into all of the responses because they are each unique to the person, but from happy to sad, all moments help us become who we are. Some of those moments are big and may only take one time to leave a lasting impression on us. Other moments are smaller and may not even seem worth a mention when they happen, but later we realize that they really are much bigger than we could ever have imagined. Author John Bevere had this to say about life's moments, "We all have life-defining moments. They are like open-book tests, but we don't know we have been examined until it is over." I hope you pass more tests than you fail over the years and can later look back on life with more smiles than frowns.