With heart, will, skill you’ll find a better future

This letter was sent to Mayor Bruce Hagen following the flooding June 19-20. “This is an encouragement letter to the wonderful community of Superior, Wisconsin,” Andrew Webb wrote in a personal note to the mayor. “My letter is encouraging them to overcome the recent flooding. I have written motivational letters to the sports programs of Augsburg College Minneapolis, Minn., and the University of Missouri-St. Louis for at least five years. I knew I had to reach out and help more people after last year’s Good Friday tornadoes hit St. Louis. I consider myself fortunate that day because one of the tornadoes struck two miles or so away from my house and hit the region’s airport. Receiving a response from then president of the University of Alabama and now chancellor of the University of Alabama program Chancellor Witt only inspired me further to encourage more communities.”

So, in keeping with the Mr. Webb’s wishes to share encouragement with the residents of Superior, the mayor asked that we publish his letter:

To the wonderful community of Superior Wisconsin:

Because of flooding that you all experienced, ones emotions can feel like that of losing a loved one unexpectedly. I understand that feeling. It’s ok to be frustrated. You must realize that you all have a community to take care of. Let the worry of what happened be laid to rest. It is not time to wane on the past, but rather it is the time to organize and move forward your wonderful community.

To move forward, you must use three attributes that you have already inside you. It is important to use these three attributes on daily routine.

The first attribute is heart. Heart is in each and every one of you. Heart gives you energy. It gives you power. It is the muscle strength that each of you uses to carry on your daily activities. Heart wakes you up and out of a lost mentality; to a “we can get through this and will become better” mindset. Heart, more importantly, connects the energy to the will as it serves as the will’s foundation.

The will is the second attribute. The will uses the hearts energy and transforms it into a calling. In times like these, the will calls each of you to come together and work to transform your neighborhood. The will calls you to not give up nor give in because the will knows there’s a better future by not quitting. Driven by the hearts enormous amounts of energy, the will provides a direct connection between one’s heart and their skill.

Your third attribute is skill. You have it. Your skill will be put to the test in various ways throughout the months to come. It comes in forms of communication. Skill comes in ways of extending a hand to a neighbor using your skills to help rebuild. Your skill, is the willingness to break down barriers in the community that hold up the development of communities from growing and moving forward just by getting to know each other. It takes a heart to move forward, it takes the will to continue the movement and it takes the skillful hands and voices of such a wonderful community like yours to make your community better each and every day.

Coming together is important during natural disasters and tragedies. By breaking down barriers, communities can easily overcome adversity because it allows for achieving results in a swift and positive manor. It is important to maintain the same type of unity experienced during the moment of adversity after the moment happened. A community cannot become better if its foundation is not on solid ground. This community has that firm foundation. Your community will bring positive opportunities for all people to experience in moving forward together after the moment of adversity.

Never giving up despite flooding is critical because you all represent a bright future for the country. One future that is willing to move forward and overcome adversity, for each of you will rise up hand-by-hand brick by brick and become more successful than before. My thoughts and prayers are with you all. We are all one community. It is only the lines on the maps define our borders. Each and every one of you will move forward from this moment. I do not doubt that.

Andrew Webb,

St. Louis, Mo.

Tags: opinion, editorial, politics, money