Under Construction

If I could address a room full of recent high school or college graduates, I would decorate the stage like a construction site. It would be lined with orange cones and those big barrels with blinking lights on top. Behind me there would be a huge yellow sign that reads “UNDER CONSTRUCTION.” Wearing a hard hat and one of those fluorescent green road crew vests, I would approach the podium and tell kids what no one ever told me: that it’s okay that you’re not sure what your story is going to look like. It’s not written yet. You are under construction.

We’re all drawing our lives with a pencil without the benefit of an eraser. The results aren’t always pretty and sometimes we wind up crumpled up, tossed to the floor next to an overflowing trash can of crumpled-up “tries.” And you know what? That’s okay.

In his autobiography Open, tennis-great Andre Agassi says, “I think older people often make the mistake of treating younger people as finished products.” To this day people think Aggasi transformed from a punk to a pro. “The truth is I didn’t transform, I formed,” he writes. I think that’s a very powerful message that young people need to hear.

drench yourself in words unspoken
live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
the rest still unwritten
“Unwritten” ~ Natasha Bedingfield

This is a message for people of any age. If your story isn’t finished, then it’s still a rough-draft. If you don’t like the direction you’re going, change it. Crumple it up and toss it. Ask God what he’d like you to do. Believe that he’ll show you the way. He wants you to grow up. He has a mission for you.

“We’re blocks of stone, out of which the sculptor carves the forms of men. The blows of His chisel, which hurt so much, are what makes us perfect. ~ C.S. Lewis

2010 is almost here. Make this the year that you take a step in a direction YOU need to go. If you’re crumpled up on the floor next to the waste basket, get up, straighten up, and realize that you have a clean slate.

Today is where your book begins, the rest still unwritten.

Curt Harding

After more than fifteen years as an award-winning reporter, anchor and producer in radio and television news, Curt Harding is a professional writer, speaker and entertainment publicist in Nashville, Tennessee. He is the host of The Short Pause podcast, author of the children’s book, A Tail of Two Kitties, and co-author of a book chronicling the lives of military veterans. His strong industry experience has allowed him to work alongside renowned thought leaders including Dave Ramsey, Max Lucado, Judge Andrew P. Napolitano, William J. Bennett, John Maxwell, Donald Miller and more.