Find Your Niche and Build Upon a Strong Foundation

Cliff dwellings or cave dwellings have been found in many parts of the world.  The caves served as dwellings and as places of worship and were usually combined with surface structures built along the nearby cliffs. After the cave cities ceased to be inhabited, the surface structure fell into ruin.  Not all cave dwellings have been deserted.  In areas of northern China cave dwellings are still common.  They serve as homes for more than 40 million people.

Guyaju is an ancient cave house located about 92 km from Beijing, China. The house was hewn from the cliffs overlooking Zhang Shanyong Town. This is the largest cave dwelling ever discovered in China.  The house complex has more than 110 stone rooms. 

Mesa Verde, located in southwestern Colorado is home to the famous cliff dwellings of the ancient Anasazi people.  In the Navajo language, Anasazi means ancient enemy.  The Pueblo peoples of New Mexico do not wish to refer to their ancestors in a disrespectful manner, so the appropriate term to use is Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings.

The prehistoric Ancestral Puebloan people built along the sides of or under the overhangs of cliffs, mainly in the Four Corners area.  The National Park Services estimates that there are about 600 cliff dwellings preserved at Mesa Verde National Park.

The Ancient Ones inhabited these cliff dwellings that date back 800 to 1000 years ago. These naturally enclosed dwellings offered protection against intruders and the elements.  The cliff dwellings were abandoned around 1300. The reason for the Ancestral Puebloan people moving away is unknown.  Some believe that a series of droughts led to crop failures or there may have been an intrusion from foreign tribes from the North.

The largest of all the cliff dwellings is Cliff Palace which has about 150 rooms and more than 20 circular rooms.  Inhabitants of Cliff Palace carried water to the dwelling from several nearby springs. The Cliff dwellings were close to the things the Ancestral Puebloan people needed.  Usually the people had to climb up or down the cliff to get to water or to their field. The inhabitants used blocks of sandstone and a mud mortar to craft some of the longest standing structures.  

Richard Wetherill and Charlie Mason were out looking for stray cattle when they rediscovered Cliff Palace in 1888. Today you may visit a cliff dwelling on a ranger-guided tour.  The tours are offered seasonally from mid-April to mid-May.

These are the sayings I found on the bookmark called Advice from a Cliff Dwelling.

• Find Your Niche

• Be Constructive

• Stick Together

• Rise to the Occasion

• Stay Close to the Earth

• Build Upon Strong Foundations

• Don’t Go Down in Ruins!

Here are my comments about each of these sayings.

• Find Your Niche - Find the activity or position that sets you apart and in which you can find success or fulfilment. 

• Be Constructive - Encourage others and build them up.

• Stick Together - Support each other. 

• Rise to the Occasion - Make the special effort that is needed to deal with a difficult situation successfully.

• Stay Close to the Earth - Stay grounded.

• Build Upon Strong Foundations - Building a good foundation requires more than just digging into the ground and pouring the concrete.  You need to build good foundations in your relationships, in your knowledge base and the skills needed to become a successful entrepreneur. 

• Don’t Go Down in Ruins! - To ruin something means to severely harm, damage or spoil it.  Ruins mean something has been destroyed but there are some pieces of parts of it remaining. I remember being on a trip to Ireland with my Mom and Dad.  Mom wondered why the ruins of old castles were left standing. She thought many of them should have been cleared away and the area cleaned up or at least restored. 

Have a great day everyone.  Find Your Niche and Build Upon a Strong Foundation.

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