Lifetime Achievement Award - Day 9

Sometimes I think about where I am and where I am going. I don't feel very successful. I have lived a lot of life, but don't seem to have a lot to show for it. I don't have many close friends. I am not successful or very active in the hobbies that interest me, and at work, I am pretty much doing the same thing I started at 15 years ago. I've tried to break out, do more, be more, but I eventually fall back down to the status quo.

Yesterday I was reading a post from someone struggling with the same kind of thing. Years of work and nothing to show for it. The thing is, he didn't feel successful, but he is one of my heroes. About 8 years ago or so I was looking for a way to connect with my sons. We had tried Boy Scouts and failed miserably. I was always working and didn't have a lot of after school / after work time. Somehow I saw an ad for Pokémon league. I knew almost nothing about Pokémon but the kids had brought a couple of cards home that their friends had given them. So we went to check it out. 

It could've been clique-ish and exclusive. They could've been disdainful of these ignorant newcomers. But the man that ran it was kind and welcoming. He was patient and helpful. It was a great experience. A few months later we even brought a couple of the boy's friends with us. It became something special that we could share. That man didn't win any awards, didn't get paid a dime and nobody made him spend his time, energy and effort. He just did it. He might not feel like a success, but he gave me special memories with my kids. 

As I look over my life, I see people, one after the other, that gave something, not for honor and accolades, but because they cared. The surgeon that saved my wife's life, and then donated a series of books to us that her child had loved which encouraged a lifelong love of reading in my son. The teacher that encouraged my other son to join a class she was attending in her free time, and now that class is something he and I share every month. The friend that invited me to be a part of his business, then stayed a real friend even when I had to quit the job and flaked out on him. The more I look, the more people I find. People who didn't have to, but did. They shared and because they did my life is more and better. Because they gave I have lived a better life. 

At this point the chances that I will win any, let alone all of the awards it takes to be an EGOT winner are infinitesimally small. Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony; those are award shows I watch not participate in. But when I look at how I have been blessed by the things people have done by just giving what to them probably seemed so little at the time, it gives me hope. Maybe, instead of spending my time agonizing on how short I have fallen, I should find someone to give that time to. That seems like the way to get the biggest return on my investment. 

To the people who have given, so many more than I could possibly list here, thank you. I will try to live up to the example you have set.