Need a locked door opened? Don't call a Smith, call an Anderson.

Monday, my mom called to see if I would come to her house and break into my granny's truck. Apparently my granny had a doctors appointment and was at my parent's place so my mom and her could go together. The thing is, she locked her keys in her car. My mom knows that I'm handy and getting into locked places just so happens to be one of my talents. So, as my act to build kindness for the day, I swung by my house to pick up some tools and headed there to help. All and all, it took me about 3 minutes to open her truck, but it got me thinking. One, why did my mom think to call me first, and two, why was she right?

It's intriguing to think about how things from our childhood mold us as adults. For example, the summer before my 8th grade year, my family moved to a house located on a secluded street directly behind the middle and high schools. When I rode my bike, chipped golf balls, roller-bladed or wanted to be mischievous... I'd usually gravitate to school property.

Yeah, I'll admit it, I was a mischievous kid. But, I was a product of my situation. During the day, school was all about rules and was filled with rule enforcing teachers. The thing was, when school was out and all the kids went home, the rules enforcers left too. That left me all alone, free to turn the school into my playground.

I remember my first time going inside the school when no one else was there. I stayed in the hallways and creeped like a scared mouse around every corner. The next few times, the front door was locked, so I went around the building trying every door until one opened. On the occasions that I got inside, I was vigilant and quiet, doing things like using the computers or looking at books in the library. Eventually, I took ownership of the school. I started jamming exterior locks with homemade paper contraptions and I taught myself to open interior doors with a credit card. I learned that the best place to roller-blade wasn't on the sidewalks, but down the halls. The best place to go during hide-and-seek was in the ceiling or on the roof. I knew all the ins and outs of the school and I was the only one! When it was all said and done, I had been through every door and in every room.

I wrote on my profile description that "I enjoy more things than anyone else I know." The reason is that I don't perceive limitations like most people. What if my first time in the school I would have been caught by a teacher and punished? I probably would have continued to view the school like everyone else... as a place that gets used between 7:30 and 2:30 and is off limits beyond that. Fortunately, I never got caught and as a result I don't see things like everyone else. I look at each day as an opportunity for adventure and change, and I envision that there can be more to life than the average or the norm. I see more than the path that's already been paved; I see the one that doesn't exist yet.

The ironic thing is, my senior year... the principle gave me a key to the school. No joke!