Deep Inside

I have a rather unique job, one that never existed before I dreamed it up. Actually, it wasn’t a dream that birthed it into existence. It was a nightmare.

It was 11:00pm one night, many years ago, when the phone rang and woke me up. One of the electricians at my company had fallen from a 20’ ladder while trying to service a tall light pole and was in the hospital with a badly fractured arm and a concussion. The man fell, because the pole fell. And the pole fell because it was severely rusted. Why didn’t he notice the rust at the bottom? Because most of the rust was on the inside, growing like a fungus, and the small amount of rust that was on the outside had been painted over.  

You see the problem, right? Well, actually, you can’t see the problem because it’s hidden on the inside. But let me tell you… the problem is a big one! Hundreds of light poles fall over due to rust and corrosion every year, often damaging cars, buildings, and sometimes people. So after a lot of thought, and a lot of help from my father Allen (a retired electrical engineer) researching different technologies, we developed a way to use Ultrasonic Technology to “see inside a steel light pole”. My father passed away, but he would be amazed to find out that my staff and I have inspected over 40,000 light poles over the past 5 years and the job itself has now become a big one!

Why am I telling you this? Because it’s not just Light Poles that have a problem on the inside. So do we!

Sometimes we try to polish our outsides with a spray tan, or a new haircut, or nicer clothes. Perhaps a new fad diet will make our sadness go away. Or maybe braces or whiter teeth will bring me the love of my life and the happiness I seek. Perhaps not. The exterior polished, the interior corroding. The outside altered, the inside faltering. One thing for sure, cosmetic changes are only skin deep. Want to solve your problems whatever they may be. Look inside… look deep inside… at what’s truly in your heart. You change your life by changing your heart!

Our hearts are lamps for ever burning.

                                                      ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow