The day has finally arrived.  This morning I boarded a plane in Portland and currently sit  in LAX waiting for my flight to Guatemala as part of a team on a mission to make a difference in a Country that has reached out and asked for help.

I have a pretty good idea of some of the events planned for this upcoming week, but then again, part of me says I have no clue.  This is the first time I have been involved of something of this magnitude and I know full well that every day will be an adventure.

On the flight from Portland to Los Angeles, I tried to find a few moments to start to really get my head in the game so I can perform at the level needed to meet our purpose of bringing some fresh ideas on leadership to a Country in need of them.

One thing I have learned over the last few years is the power of quiet.  When you remove the noise and clutter, it’s amazing what you can learn.

The skies were clear as we flew over southern Oregon and I could see Crater Lake with full clarity and vision.  So clear in fact that I could see the reflection of the still snow covered ridge around the lake reflecting back into the water.  (This is the last time I will get caught without my camera near by.)  But the image remains vivid in my mind.

As I thought about what I could get out of that image it struck me that this upcoming week will be a lot like my flight.

When we took off out of Portland, it only took a few minutes before the clouds took away my vision of the place I call home.  The middle part of the flight was mostly clear and the vision was excellent.  I saw beautiful images of the Central Oregon Cascades, Crater Lake and Mt. Shasta in Northern California

Then came southern California.  As soon as we approached the LA basin you could see that the marine influence had the entire area saturated in white.  The vision was gone, the clarity was gone, and the only way we were going to land safely was for the pilot to trust his instruments and flip the right switch and pull the right lever to get us on the ground safely.

I think this next week, and life in general, are a lot like my two hour flight from Portland to Los Angeles this morning.  Sometimes we can see with full clarity and vision and sometimes we can’t see at all.

No doubt we will face some challenges this week, but we are clear on our mission and that is where our focus will be.  I think my big take away from the flight was the reflection in Crater Lake.  Without the clear skies, there would have been no reflection and I believe it can work in the opposite direction just as well.  When we take the time to reflect, we gain that clarity and vision.

This week my teammates and I will do a lot of reflecting.  Why?  Because it’s time to chart a new course and navigate around the challenges that have plagued this Country for years.  We have been invited to make a difference and it’s time to answer the call.

For all of you that have supported and encouraged myself, my colleagues on the John Maxwell Team and our non-profit partner EQUIP, I want to say thank you.  My responsibilities to the team come first this week, but my hope is to make a little time each night to share the experience as well as our stories of victory.

This is a very exciting and unique endeavor and who knows what it could lead to on an even bigger scale.  I look forward to sharing this experience with all of you.  Stay Tuned!

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Barry Smith    6/9/13   photo by author  © Building What Matters 2013