It turns out James Hetfield with his rhythm guitar, not Lars Ulrich with his drums, is really the one who keeps Metallica in time.  Okay, truthfully this is probably debatable.  Nonetheless, there is an opportunity for a great metaphor here.  Who among us would dispute music’s inherent power?

Aside from what some noble, lofty lyrics of poets and dreamers say about finding music in nature and what not, in order to create music someone must keep time.  If no one is keeping time, no amount of effort can transform noise into one of humanity’s most powerful expressions of itself.  Music.

What about life?  Cannot life itself be interpreted in a similar manner?  In the end, noise and music are probably not perfectly distinct.  There is likely a continuum with one end being noise; the other being music.   What would it hurt to place human potential along a similar continuum?  One end being not reaching potential, possibly not even seeing the potential; the other being maximum potential realization.

And if somewhere on the noise to music continuum there appears a time keeper, would not the human-potential continuum also need a time keeper?  Need people who actively prescribe the standard of measure?  Not some ultimate quality control dictating to all whether the music is good or not, no.  These people would simply be keeping time.  Might these human-potential metronomes even borrow similar tactics from mechanical metronomes and repeat themselves steadily with regularity?  Asking, “How are you today?”  (Click) “How’s your goal coming along?”  (Click)  “What’s the next step?”  (Click) “I care about you reaching your potential and am here to help in any way you think I can.”  (Click)

And just like the wind-up metronomes, might even these human-potential metronomes occasionally need to be re-energized every once in a while?  Remember then, it is the same fingers that make the music which are the ones that have to take a break to reset the metronome.  Wouldn’t it be the same people busily reaching their potential that need to take a break and reset these human-potential time keepers?  Notice even that winding up a metronome still requires purposeful effort.

Thank you Cherry Creek Toastmasters.

Yes.  We need time keepers.