Light it Up

Fire Fighter or Fire Lighter

We had the privilege to be instructed by the BYU Athletic Director, Tom Holmoe. He spoke about relationships. He said there are two kinds of people, fire fighters or fire lighters.  You normally associate fire fighters as heroes. They are the ones who go out in the fires and save people. In this scenario, a fire is the thing that inspires us. If you are a fire fighter you are just putting people down. We want to be fire lighters, inspirers, people that light it up. 

See if you can find the fire lighters and fire fighters. What is the difference?

I want to be someone who is willing to give it all to those who I know so that they will want to do the best they can. There are a few relationships that I could work on to really improve on this aspect of my life. 

1) My Dad-Last time I was home my Dad and I talked about starting a business together! Sounds fun huh. We really want to bring something new to good’ol Arkansas. We have a few ideas up in the air. It’s not the business I’m worried about, but as me and my Dad work on this together we will get closer. It’s been hard keeping in touch with him since being home from my mission. This is a great way to not only to stay in touch, but to build something more than a business, our father-son relationship. 

2) My Mom-My mom is a very inspiring person. She definitely is definitely a fire lighter. I need her more. I miss my mom, because she is often my source of strength. I have struggles and disappointments that come rather often. She was the one that helped me through them. Now it’s tougher because I don’t see her every day and don’t get to tell her what’s going on. I have the great chance to go home and be with her over Christmas. I want to take all that time with her to tell her about what is going on and then just listen to her.  

3) My brother-in-law- I really like my brother-in-law. I did miss him meeting my sister, dating my sister, becoming engaged, and in the end marring my sister. Am I mad at him for that? Absolutely not. But I don’t feel like I have a real good relationship with him.  I want to be able to see him like a brother. Someone I can hang out with. Someone I can ask advice from. I know it’s going to take a lot longer than just one sit down, but this week I will be going over to my sister’s house to watch a movie. I normally talk to my sister and he does homework. I will try to talk to him more this time.   

I actually went to visit Tom Holmoe a few days later, Friday November 30. He gave me about 20 minutes. In those 20 minutes I just asked him about some thoughts I was having about my career. He was a great help. What I noticed about him was his ability to connect. I got in there and he was so helpful. He probably has a lot bigger and more important things to do than sit down and answer a few of my goofy little questions. Because he is a fire lighter he not only gave me the time, but he gave me direction to the questions I had. 

This is the last post I have for class. I have really enjoyed this class. It was my favorite class this semester. It’s not about trying to learn facts or just pattern life after the great ones. I have been able to adventure my thoughts in this class. That’s real learning. I could take my life and apply the leadership principles I learned to progress my life rather than feel burdened down with homework. I have enjoyed all my assignments. I may not be writing again for this class, but don’t be surprised if I but another post up in the future.