Oh, The Places You’ll Go (Part 1)

Ideas poured in my head as I found and read one of my favourite children’s stories laying around at the Hylton’s. For some reason, I can’t get enough of them – kids books, that is. They are simplistic, yet true and deep when you read more than what is written on the pages.

My College Grad was my first “real” introduction to this amazing book that captured my heart. Since then, I have been handing this book out as a Grad gift, encouraging students to spread their wings and fly, no matter what comes their way. With all we are dealing with, learning and sorting through this week, I was blessed and glad to be able sit down and become childish for a few minutes, while sorting through the truths and life application! How it applies to what I’m learning today! It’s been a part of my journey and learning experience in so many ways!

 

Congratulations! Today is your day.

You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care.

About some
you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.”
With your head full of
brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down a
not-so-good street.

And you may not find any you’ll want to go down.
In that case, of
course, you’ll head straight out of town. It’s opener there in the wide
open air.

Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.

 

Oh! The Places You’ll Go! 

 

You’ll be on your way up! You’ll be seeing great sights!

You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed.

You’ll pass the
whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead.

Wherever you fly, you’ll be
best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don’t. Because, sometimes, you won’t.

I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.

You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on.

You’ll be left in a Lurch.

You’ll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump.

And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a Slump.

 

And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked.

A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?

How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And if you go in, should you turn left or right…or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?

Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace

and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.

 

 This boy (the reader) is off on an adventure. He’s starting something new. He has DECISIONS he has to make. These decisions are not all easy. Some are simple and some are more complex. Some will lead him down the right road, and others will lead him astray. Nobody can make the decisions for him. He has to choose. He has to depend on God and trust that he’s going to get to where he is going, one step at a time. Makes me think of me…

 

As he embraces the journey at hand, good things start coming his way. He is OPTIMISTIC while running into the unknown world. Life is full of blessings and surprises, and we never know what is around each corner or on the other side of the hill, until we get there. I wish I could say it always ended good, however we often become stuck. Life is hard. We get hurt. We become fearful. But we press on. The journey continues…

 

Oh, the places you’ll go when you let go and trust and turn to God to direct our steps.

He is our light and our guide.