Derek R Henig
This is a further discussion of the takeaway idea from The Missing Sheriff. If you haven’t read the story, there may be “spoilers” below, but you need not have read the story to understand the ideas here.
The story was written as one big analogy, with the idea that the town is like your mind, or your world around you, and you are the Sheriff. You control what comes into your mind, your world, and what doesn’t.
(WESTERN) – PARKER lives in a small forgettable town, existing behind the scenes, and, like the other six residents, ignoring the long-abandoned Sheriff’s station. This is all about to change when three bandits ride into their small world and force a break in their comfortable routines.
(DRAMA) – GEORGE is babysitting his granddaughter when a simple toy rocket plunges him into a state of nostalgia and regret. The dreams he had as a young man to build rockets and his passion for all things space were never fulfilled. But, now George has an idea and can’t wait to share it with his wife Mary. This idea will take George to places he never could have dreamed of.
This post is the takeaway idea from the short story, The Toy Rocket. There may be “spoilers” if you haven’t already read the story. But, you also don’t need to read the story to understand this post! Alright, here we go!
The central message, or lesson, in this first story is to not spend forever trying to make your ideas perfect. Do not wait for the ideal pathway to open up before you. The idea is to just get started, right now.
Millennials. I love ’em. They are doing everything they were taught to do–which is not necessarily the same thing their parents and grandparents were taught to do and did. I’m on the edge of the Millennial cusp, and I think I have similar values (values I was taught). Do what you love. Follow your heart. Live passionately. All great advice! Yet, our school system is not designed to nurture this. And so, most students enter college lost and many leave college still lost, and still searching.