The weld starts. The energy flows from the source…the heart. The torch, a poetic pen, of a welder, bears the flow of energy from the heart…to the piece. Taking the heat, the energy, and the blow of that can render you useless. The heat. Enough heat to spontaneously combust your clothes, your heart, your life. Ashes. The darkening cloud. Failure. Breathing in ashes, choking on the dark particles, that are fatal. Particles slowly eat away at your life, your weld, and your structure. They blacken your lungs, your blood, and your thoughts.
Once the weld has failed, the structure is broken, doomed to tumble until the infinite circle ends. The searing heat liquefies the metal, of dreams and ideas, of a team. Too long and the heat will melt away the dream, too short and the weld cannot affix the metal together.
Heat from the weld rises, pressure from the team mounts, and time from the due date dwindles. A cloud of smoke arises. The weld stops. Blindness. Darkness.
I lift up the full—face visor, and catch my bearings. Examine the weld…and triumph. The weld is absolute.
Only the strength of my words, my promises, and my expertise keep this team alive. Once your words and your promises have failed, trust within you has failed. If you cannot keep your word, who will trust you? If you break a team’s trust, who will rely on you? If you break your promise, who will forgive you?
Once trust is gone, it is gone for good…never to come back with the same degree. When trust is gone everything else follows like a marching army heading out to battle. No more trust, no more friends, no more happiness. Nothing.
On a team, breaking your word can be as detrimental as not having one. This is no exception in First Robotics, if you cannot keep your word, your promises, and your deadlines, trust is broken and, just like a failed weld, your structure, your trust, and your life…Crumble.