WHOSE SHOULDERS DO YOU STAND ON?

        The world looks different at kneecap level . . .try squatting to the height of a four year old.  There is just a lot 'out there' that you will miss. The next time you attend a parade, look at the children lined up along the curb, hoping for a good view.  Fortunate is the little one who has been lifted onto the shoulders of a parent, grand-parent or other caring adult.  Now, the view is vastly different.
     In viewing the 'parade of life', we, likewise, stand upon the shoulders of others.  Without those boosts, we would be looking at our own lives from another kind of kneecap level.
It is part of the cultural lore in the U.S. that we venerate the 'Self-Made Man [Person]' and 'Rugged Individualism'.  I maintain that there is no such individual.  Self-reliance and Self-sufficiency are different matters.  It was said of a US President in the 19th Century that he was a self-made man who never ceased to praise his maker.
     In his book, The Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell builds a persuasive case (in my opinion) that numerous factors combine to make the 'successful' individual.  We can influence some of those factors; however, many can be attributed to other 'reasons' beyond our control, such as being in the 'Right place' at the Right time, where and when we were born, kinspeople, mentors, plain-old-luck, and on it goes. ( If the length of the book seems daunting, it is available in audiobook. And, if that is too great a time challenge, consider reading just the last part. And, no this is not a 'commercial for the book.)
       At whatever place you find ourself along the age spectrum, Whose Shoulders Do You Stand On?

     Satchel