Story of Resilience - LEGO Building Challenge

Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes, 15 seconds.

Over this last weekend we had the privilege of working with BrickWorld, and hosted a building challenge for the kids that were attending the event. This is the second year that we have been hosting and running the challenges. The first year, we had a little boy that wanted to compete. He was about seven at the time and was excited about creating something special for the challenge. He worked hard with his mom and put out the maximum effort. He spent the full sixty minutes building, which is unusual for someone at that age. When it came time for the winners to be announced, he was on the edge of his seat. Unfortunately, he wasn’t one of the winners for this round. He was crushed. There was a lot of tears through the immense amount of disappointment. As his mother attempted to calm him down, and after we finished cleaning up, I was able to spend time to encourage him in building. I didn’t expect him to take everything to heart the way he did.

Fast forward to this year. He came back to compete again this year. This year he had the same amount of energy and excitement entering the competition. We announced the challenge this year as building something around the theme of Misfits Toys, yes just like from the movie Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys. Each of the teams were given sixty minutes. The judging was based on four different criteria.

1.??????The build needed to be recognizable as the title of the build.

2.??????The parts should be used in unique situations.

3.??????Technical building and moving parts would add bonus points.

4.??????There should be a story associated with the build.

This year we brought in a few guest judges to pick out the winners for the many creative builds. Sixteen teams were involved with this challenge. This time, as we were getting ready to announce the winner, our little friend was again on the edge of his seat waiting to find out who won. As we got to the point of announcing, our little friend placed third for his build. To say he was excited is an understatement. He was jumping up and down, high fiving his Mom, and at the point where he was almost unable to talk. He graciously received his prize and thanked us. But this is the good part. After the excitement had worn off, and the pictures were taken, his mom let me in on the rest of the story. After the first event, our friend went home and took the advice I had shared about becoming better through practice. He had taken the time to practice his building style and techniques. For almost a year, he would dump out his LEGO collection and build something around a theme that his mom would give him.

Our little friend has some incredible traits that I often find missing within adults. He was willing to commit time to becoming better at something that he loved. He was willing to learn from what the world would call a failure. He was willing to put himself at risk, and compete once again, even if it meant that he would feel the pain of the loss.?The sub story in all of this is that his mom was willing to support and encourage our little friend. She allowed him to feel the emotion and then learn to become a better man through the process. As adults, don’t ever underestimate the impact you have on those that follow behind.

So I ask you my friend. What are you willing to do to become better at a skill? What are you willing to sacrifice in order to be uncomfortable??