Saturday, I had the opportunity to speak to middle and high school students at a youth rally. I talked to them about serving their community – mainly by sharing the experiences I've had partnering with Sole4Souls.
But somewhat unexpectedly, I found myself talking to them about an even bigger idea. I found myself telling them life doesn’t begin when we grow up, it begins when we start to show up. There was a natural connection between those two messages in my life. My support of Soles4Souls has been life changing. Yes, because it is rewarding to contribute to the world in a way you know is meaningful. But equally important – maybe more – I’ve learned a lot of opportunities in life don’t come when the time is right, they come when we decide the right time is now. I think we can do a disservice to our kids when we spend a lot of time talking to them about their futures. We unintentionally create a mental divide between today and tomorrow. Tomorrow can begin sounding like a faraway day when life begins. Today can begin to sound like the day I have to suffer through to get one step closer to living. The thing is - for some of us - that far away day can arrive and we sadly discover it doesn’t look much different than today used to look. I told the kids there was a day I would have said I’d never go to Honduras. The time was NEVER going to be right for THAT opportunity. Then I had a conversation with my friend Buddy about the work his organization is doing in Honduras, and something inside of me started begging me to go see it for myself. The ‘tomorrow’ me said no way. I’ll do that when I grow up. But this little voice inside me wouldn’t let up on this idea of Honduras – a little voice that kept calling me to show up. I told the kids I’ve come to recognize that little voice as God in my life. It’s not loud, it’s just relentless. It’s a little voice that says you can keep waiting until you grow up, but I won’t let you sleep until you show up. My experience in Honduras opened my eyes and heart to things about our humanity that we all share. It opened my eyes and heart to the reality that ‘us and them’ is a myth that we create – it’s not reality – that’s a significant life lesson. A life lesson I almost missed. That Honduras experience smacked me with the truth that my eyes and heart have remained closed to much of life because I’d been waiting on the right day to start living my life. It’s been a long time since I’ve been one of the kids I was talking to Saturday. But it hasn’t been long at all since I was one of the many of them who are using their todays to dream of tomorrow instead of living the today that will shape it. It’s Monday, and maybe there are some places in your life where you are just waiting for that opportunity to say today is the day. Well, be careful, what you may be in is a standoff. It’s quite possible that opportunity is simply waiting on you.... waiting on you to say I’m not waiting any more. Today I’m deciding life isn’t about growing up – it’s about showing up.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Robert "Keith" CartwrightI am a friend of God, a dad, a runner who never wins, but is always searching for beauty in the race. Archives
November 2024
CategoriesAll Faith Fatherhood Life Mental Health Perserverance Running |