A Perfect Game

"Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies." - Mother Teresa

A baseball pitcher named Roy Halladay became only the second person to ever throw a no-hitter in post season play on October 5, 2010. It was quite an accomplishment when you look at the history of baseball. More amazing is on May 29 of that same year, Halladay pitched the 20th perfect game in Major League Baseball history.

As they say, "27 up, 27 down" to complete the game.

So what can pitching a no-hitter in baseball have to do with living a great life? Most certainly having such a high level of talent which brings adulation and money, lots of money helps make life comfortable. More important though is the person behind the talent, their character, which makes a great life. And Roy Halladay did something beyond just receiving acclaim for his accomplishments.

After pitching the perfect game in May, he arranged to commemorate that perfect game. Halladay presented roughly 60 Swiss-made Baume and Mercier watches he had purchased to everyone in the clubhouse.

Each were presented in boxes bearing the inscription: "We did it together. Thanks, Roy Halladay." To top it off, on the back of each watch was engraved the date of the game, the line score, and the individual recipient's name. The names of those sixty people were not just his fellow ball-players. They were coaches, trainers, and others all of the way down to what may seem to be the most insignificant people to some.

But not to Roy, he understood and acknowledged that even the smallest have a large impact on our success in life.

Your own life is involved on both ends of this spectrum. While you toil away at something you may feel insignificant in what you do. Just know that even the smallest flower along the roadside serves a grand purpose. The nectar a bee consumes creates food for the hive yet sustains the bee to carry on the pollination of other plants.

The smallest flower is involved in the circle that will carry life forward.

And if we have greatness in our life, we need to remember and acknowledge all the other people who helped us accomplish it. Without many others, your life can not be sustained for very long. Without the smallest flowers, the bee has less to draw upon. In time, the bee can no longer sustain its grand work. Even the largest depend upon the small; life is pretty grand in that respect.

Know that your life is never too big to have done so on your own. Nor is your life too small not to have had an impact on the life of others.

Not all of us can pitch a no-hitter, but each of us can make a difference in the life of another. And when we impact the lives of other people, its as good as having a "27 up and 27 down" great life.

Stay inspired my friends!

Floating On The Water

“You laugh it off, you get upset for a little while, you're human and you let it go.” - Jennifer Lopez

A few years ago my wife and I took an extended early September vacation. It was a great time looking back with family, friends and just chillingout for a few days. We made a visit up to Helen, Georgia just before the start of a very long Oktoberfest celebration they have stretching from mid-September to the start of November.

As we sat in our chairs of a local drinking establishment having a beer and some wings, we noticed small clear bags of water hanging along the edge of the patio walls. This was an open air restaurant next to the Chattahoochee River, down which people float on large round tubes. One might have mistaken these clear plastic bags as water balloons meant to toss at people floating by.

A patron near us had the same thought and decided to toss one.

Why he chose a pretty girl is left to his own reckoning but she ended up being one not to take this offense calmly. She returned, yelled and screamed her displeasure at him. She did get wet, but we thought again that she was in the water and getting wet already. I'm guessing it was the surprise of a water balloon which shocked her from the calm floating waters of the river.

The exchange was heated but the patron did apologize.

I'm not completely certain he was fully remorseful, but he did apologize. The young lady stood her ground, or more actually, her water (since she was standing in the shallows of the river). Standing there, I am not certain if she was waiting for something more or maybe a burly boyfriend to come floating down to save her honor.

It was at this point we decided to leave the maddening noise.

Before leaving we could hear the restaurant staff explaining that those were not water balloons to be thrown at people tubing down the river. In fact they are there to discourage flies from hanging around.

I am certainly glad we did not make the same mistake.

So where does this leave the story and what lesson can be learned? As I said, we did not stay to see the situation play out completely. There were too many stores to visit and too many interesting places to see in town.

What I do know, things are going to happen to us in life.

There are going to be moments in which your peaceful existence is going to get interrupted. A water balloon is going to crash down upon you in a surprising way when you least expect. Getting upset is likely your first response, anger is your second and retaliation might even enter your thought process.

Will you stand on the edge of the water allowing it to consume you? And while you do, the water keeps flowing past, life keeps flowing on. Let it go, pick up the pieces and get back on the tube. Get back into the flowing water of life and move on.

Stay inspired my friends!

Taking A Cab Ride

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.” ― Plato

The following story is reprinted from a book by Kent Nerburn, titled Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace: Living in the Spirit of the Prayer of St. Francis.

I found it to be a good story of the human spirit. It does not matter if the story is true or not. What is important to me is the meaning behind it. Each of us can make a difference in the life of another, large or small, it matters.

And now the story ...

Twenty years ago, I drove a cab for a living. When I arrived at 2:30 a.m., the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window. Under these circumstances, many drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a minute, then drive away. But, I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on taxis as their only means of transportation. Unless a situation smelled of danger, I always went to the door. The passenger might be someone who needs my assistance, I reasoned to myself.

So I walked to the door and knocked. "Just a minute," answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor. After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her eighties stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie.

By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

"Would you carry my bag out to the car?" she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then turned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness.

"It's nothing," I told her. "I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated."

"Oh, you're such a good boy," she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, then asked, "Could you drive through downtown?"

"It's not the shortest way," I answered quickly.

"Oh, I don't mind," she said. "I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice." I looked in the rear view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. "I don't have any family left," she continued. "The doctor says I don't have very long."

I quietly reached over and shut off the meter. "What route would you like me to take?" I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.

Sometimes she'd ask me to slow down in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, "I'm tired. Let's go now."

We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.

Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair. "How much do I owe you?" she asked, reaching into her purse.

"Nothing," I said.

"You have to make a living," she answered.

"There are other passengers," I responded. Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.

"You gave an old woman a little moment of joy," she said. "Thank you."

I squeezed her hand, then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.

I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly, lost in thought. For the rest of the day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?

On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life.

We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware, beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

People may not remember exactly what you did or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.

[Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace: Living in the Spirit of the Prayer of St. Francis, published by Harper San Francisco. by Kent Nerburn]

Stay inspired my friends!

More Cowbell Again

#RepeatWeek

As we head into the weekend I thought you could use a little more cowbell.

"You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen." - Paulo Coelho

There is a very funny skit from Saturday Night Live called "More Cowbell". Laughing about something so out of place as a cowbell could be the perfect answer for something which is lacking.

I can hear the clanging cowbell as I write.

What I find interesting is something so unexpected can change the whole atmosphere around our lives. Unexpected events which happen can have a surprising and positive effect.

A change in tone, a stranger crossing our path or a different road taken home from work. Each of these while seemingly insignificant can create an unexpected change in our lives.

Maybe it is an oversimplification but even something so unexpected as a cowbell could actually add more to your life.

Embrace what you can by trying something different. Change up the ordinary and see what kinds of opportunity get presented to you.

When life becomes stagnant, shout out for "more cowbell" and see what happens.

Stay inspired my friends!