Posted by Phil Keithahn on Wed, May 19, 2010 @ 07:41 AM
HEADLINE: Minnesota Bridges are Structurally Unsound...but none have collapsed!!
On August 1, 2007, I was in England celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Scouting with over 50,000 Scouts from more than 180 nations. On that same morning, the 35W bridge collapsed in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Within 30 minutes, we received word in England about this disaster, and about the heroic efforts of people who worked together in times of catastrophe to recover. What a miracle of faith in action!
But what has happened since then? The government has had its experts and investigators analyze the bridge collapse, develop theories, assign blame, and begin rating all bridges in the state as to whether they are safe...or "unsafe and unsound."
And guess what? In spite of all these "expert ratings" for bridges that are "structurally unsound", not a single bridge has collapsed. ZERO. NONE. NADA. In fact, during my lifetime (52 years!), I can't remember another bridge in Minnesota, let alone the rest of the USA, that has collapsed. There may be aging bridges that have problems, need to be updated, or need to be renovated, but NOT A SINGLE BRIDGE HAS COLLAPSED.
Part of moving forward with confidence as our nation recovers from the recession is to realize that life is full of risks. Life is full of mistakes. Learning, progress, and success only occur after we make mistakes. When you hear or read expert opinions after the fact talk about negative things that make you feel afraid, remember that they rarely predicted the problem before it occurred. In fact, when they did predict, their predictions were more often faulty than correct. So focus on the positive, pay attention to the things that you control, and accept personal accountability for your actions.