Happy Happy 12th Birthday Son
Checking off the box of physical exercise with a quick power walk outside to get that Vitamin D., relax my mind and pray, I gave a half smile walking briskly past a gentleman that I see smiling at me with a sparkle in his eye. The "TO DO" list blasting frantically in my brain starts to fade and I slow down. This vivacious 90 year old man opened my heart to a message I want to pass on to my son on his 12th birthday.
I celebrate birthdays for the month, a day is way too short, a week too short and a month is just right. I begin thinking of the age my kids were and the age my kids are about to be and all the things I want to say, teach and do. I observe them in a new way, I see things I normally miss, I laugh more and I love deeper the whole month. Why do we stop celebrating each other? DISTRACTIONS! We plow through days, weeks, month and years without noticing the small changes in others and ourselves.
My walking partner began teaching me how to feel the earth, its vibrations and how as a kid he walked around on the grass and could feel the earth vibrations through his body and now we have shoes and concrete cities, he sighs. He encouraged me to feel the earth and allow the vibrations to heal me physically, mentally and emotionally. He continued to fill my head and heart with encouragement as we continued to feel the earth together. I asked about his life, what he had done for work, did he have children and how had loved changed him?
His life story progressed as he began telling me about losing 2 sons and how he coped with the pain "everyone that is born already has a set time to live and when that time is up we can not control that". He told me about his professional life and the generational business that had been in his family for years and years. He would pause and make me look directly at him when he had something to say that was really important. I began seeing a 12 year old boy in his face, I saw an emerging young man on the brink of greatness and a faithful son, father and husband and I knew I had to listen intently so I could pass it on to my son.
I asked about the hard times and the in between times and he stopped and said " you have two choices everyday when you wake up:"to be happy or not to be happy both are a choice and not being happy is the easiest choice"! He said "we all get caught up and so DISTRACTED, only a few things are really important".
He encouraged me to keep changing lives and that fear is a liar, to keep going and move on during those tough days. I asked about his wife and he could no longer walk and talk, he shook his head slowly side to side and said with a childish grin "I knew when I saw her more then 50 years ago walking down the stairs when she was 13 she would be my wife and I love her more today then I ever have loved her".
What a legacy, what that mile gave me, what he offered was a lifetime of commitment, not paralyzed by fear or bound by distractions but one of joyful choices, He signed off on our walk with a slow statement reminding me "everyday is a gift, every breath is a gift, use it, cherish it and pass it on!"
What more could I tell my son, then these words from a man that has already lived a full life inspiring others to greatness.
He gave this to me and Son I pass them on to you:
1. Don't get distracted
2. Slow Down
3. Feel the earth
4. Look AT people
5. Listen intentionally
6. Fear is a liar
7. Everything is a choice
8. Love Deeply
9. Everyday is gift, Every breath is a gift, cherish it, use it and pass it on
10. Tell your story
11. Relationships matter and money is not more important than people nor is getting your TO DO list done!
12. Don't miss out on the slow mile walk that could change your life.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
