Things I have learned - Staking our claim

Today’s Wisdom: If you claim something, you can own it.  – Carrie Fisher

By Bill D. Ward

In researching some old history stories, I have found several references to the practice of literally driving stakes into the ground to claim land. Often these were wood or metal, but at times, even a pile of rocks was deemed adequate for a legal claim. The point was to do something asserting your right to the land.

We no longer actually drive stakes into the ground, but in modern times we still use the term “staking your claim.” It can refer to any instances in which we put “dibs” on something as our own. Today it might be to a piece of pie, a favorite chair, or the front seat in the car.

Sometimes people still honor those claims. However, even in the olden days, people had problems with claim jumpers. Today you might still have to tussle for that pie. Many years ago, I lost two girlfriends when other guys staked a claim to them while I thought they were with me. (Just to clarify here, not at the same time.) I’m not really sure you can claim people but that’s what happened.

It occurs to me that staking a claim has a few holes in it. It might work out, and might not. Maybe the claims that work out the best are those that someone else can’t take away. Those are the attributes and missions we pursue that aren’t just stuff, or people in my case.

No one can preempt our claim to being a friend, a prayer warrior, or a great volunteer. We shall not be denied the life mission of being an encourager or a donor to good causes. And, as a musician, I personally will not let anyone else snatch away my claim to being a budding rock star in my own mind.

One of the things I have learned in life is that the things we commonly put dibs on either don’t really matter much or were never ours to claim in the first place. The things that matter, we don’t often think seriously enough to overtly claim as our own. Maybe we have it backwards. I’m just sayin’.