Foundations on Dictionary Hill

© 2002 Boaz Rauchwerger

If you travel about 15 miles east-southeast of downtown San Diego, as the crow flies, you’ll come to the Dictionary Hill neighborhood of Spring Valley. The area is distinctive because the homes are built on the steepest hill in the San Diego area. A couple of the streets could challenge some of the best roller coasters around for steepness. From the top of the hill, looking south, you can see Mexico and, to the west, the Pacific Ocean.

Legend has it that the area got its name from the sale of lots many years ago. A dictionary was given to each buyer. Some of the buyers were out of state and bought lots sight unseen. What they didn’t realize is that many of the lots are quite steep and very difficult places to build homes. Maybe the dictionary, for some of those folks, came in handy to look up the word “swindle.”

However, building techniques have improved over the years and more and more homes have been built on the steep terrain of Dictionary Hill. One of the builders is a friend of mine, Adnan Al-Ameri. Ed, as he’s known in America, is a civil engineer who is originally from Iraq. He has built a number of spec homes in the area over the past 10 years and, mostly due to the quality of his work, they have sold very well.

My father was a builder. Having escaped through the underground in 1935 from Austria to Palestine, he built some of the original block homes in the desert of Israel. Dad got me interested in building at an early age. As a teenager, I helped him double the size of our house in Oklahoma.

Now I have two career passions in my life. You probably have more potential career passions than you realize. My first passion deals with building people. The second deals with building houses. Thus, over the years, I would visit Ed’s building sites on Dictionary Hill and act as a sidewalk superintendent. Many times I’d bring along work clothes and help out. Eventually Ed and I decided to build some spec homes together. Over the past two years we have purchased four adjoining lots and we will start our first house together in a couple of months. I will continue my work as a high performance coach and professional speaker. However, in my spare time, you’ll soon find me spending some time each day on our first house on Portolla Ave.

In light of current affairs in the Middle East, isn’t it interesting that Ed, an Arab, and I, a Jew, have formed a wonderful partnership based on trust, friendship and respect. I have a strong feeling that this partnership will benefit both of us greatly.

The most important thing about building a house on Dictionary Hill is the foundation. Since the terrain is quite steep on many of the lots, you have to spend a lot of time designing and building the foundation. In order to get two stories level with the street above, the tall part of these houses is often four stories high down the hill. The foundation literally crawls up the hill.

Life is very much like the foundations on Dictionary Hill. Without a strong foundation, people’s lives crumble. Without strong, properly designed foundations, the homes on Dictionary Hill would also crumble. There are a lot of rocks on Dictionary Hill. As there are a lot of stumbling blocks in life. What is done on Dictionary Hill is that the rocks are used to help anchor the foundations. In the rocks that are too big to move or blast, holes are drilled into them to anchor the steel reinforcing bars. The foundation is then formed around such obstacles.

So, when you come across challenges in your life, why not learn from the foundations on Dictionary Hill. Look for the benefit in the challenge. Incorporate the good part of the challenge to help strengthen your resolve.

Thus, let’s look at the elements of the foundation of a productive life…

Decide what is important to you and write it down. Identify a burning desire. If you only had six months to live, what would you want to accomplish? Is there a special place you want to see? Would you spend more time with certain people? Would you do something you’ve been putting off?

Write down that important something and, if possible, get pictures of it. Post those pictures around you so you see them every day. Take small steps toward that goal and watch the magic happen.

Another important part of a strong foundation in life is personal development. Spend some time each day reading positive books, listening to positive tapes, counseling with positive people, eating healthy, exercising, saving money. I’m not suggesting you spend much time on any of these areas. Just a little effort, in the right direction, on a regular basis, can pay off handsomely.

Are you building a strong foundation that will hold a solid structure of life? If not, let’s start today. I know of a number of empty lots on Dictionary Hill where, like life, a new house can be started on any given day.

A Daily Affirmation from the Hill

It’s easy and important for me to do a few productive foundational things each day.