So I’ll admit it. I’m a fan of the TV show, Build it Bigger. I don’t watch it all the time, but it’s definitely one that I have in my DVR for background TV–that’s TV that I have on while I do household tasks.
Last night as I did my dishes and cleaned my kitchen, I had the latest episode, “Constructing Serbia’s Largest Bridge,” playing in the background. I had just turned on my faucet when I heard the following:
Danny Forster, host: “Like the nearly one million bridges all over the world, the new Sava River Bridge in Belgrade is a unique solution to a unique set of challenges”
Martin Steinküehler, Project Manager: “Every bridge is a prototype, and every bridge is custom made, which you can see here–it’s a custom made pylon”
DF: “That is an amazing point. Every bridge is a prototype in that there has never been a condition with this geology. There’s never been a condition with this kind of traffic. There’s never been another condition that has this kind of wind. So design, the shape, the form, the height is all specific to this moment here in Belgrade.”
MS: “It is, and that’s why I like this job so much.”
I know they were talking about a bridge, but really, couldn’t they be talking about us?
Think about it.
Each of our lives are prototypes.
There has never been another person who has had the same set conditions, challenges, privileges, gifts, talents, struggles, etc. as you.
Yes, we can learn from others. The bridge in this episode is a cable stayed bridge like hundreds of other cable stayed bridges throughout the world. It utilizes many of the same principles. It can learn from other bridges and new technologies.
But in the end, it is unique.
I ended up sitting in my house thinking about this for quite some time last night. The past few weeks have been interesting to say the least (again, I’ll do a blog about them sometime soon), and I’ve been thinking about my current set of challenges. I would love for my “wind” to not be so intense and to have a bit more solid “geography” in my life to set down some firm feet.
But that isn’t in the cards.
Instead, my challenge…
OUR challenge
is to build our own prototype.
And if we do it well, perhaps we leave a lasting landmark.
The Sava River Bridge is being built in Serbia’s capital of Belgrade, still recovering for the Balkan Wars of the 1990’s. Buildings and bridges were destroyed and many lives were lost.
And yet they build…
…this beautiful prototype.
We’re all going to have struggles.
We’re all going to have challenges.
We’re all going to want moments with different circumstances.
It’s how we rise from these moments to bridge our gap into the next that makes life so interesting.
“It is, and that’s why I like this job so much.”
Don’t forget to take part in SUMMER SCHOOL, Patrick’s free six-week program to a better you.