This past week I have been beside myself with excitement. I get to interview a world-renowned neurosurgeon and researcher, an inventor of medical devices, a major philanthropist, and a promoter of peace, compassion, and altruism. And it's all the same person! I needed to research our guest and the credits to his name are jaw dropping. This man is changing the world one patient at a time, one research project at a time, one blog at a time, one conference at a time. The only thing he doesn't have is his own cooking show. Someone of this reputation could leave me feeling like a slacker. But there's a back story with another character.
Our guest grew up in grueling poverty within a family that really could not raise him well. The odds were stacked against him, and the future looked as tough and grim as the past and present. Then one day he wandered into a local store. A conversation ensued with the shopkeeper. God only knows what the woman saw in him, but she asked him to come back and see her daily for the next six weeks. She then proceeded to teach him the practice of compassion, meditation, gratitude, and positive thinking. It him put him on a trajectory more incredible than he ever could have imagined.
This man, as inspiring as he is, might never have become this man were it not for this anonymous-to-us woman who owned a store and took the time simply to talk with him. She deserves to share the accolades of his work and successes. What this woman's story, brief though it is, says to me, is that we never know when we are going to be a role model for someone else. We never know when something we say drops like a seed in fertile ground and becomes an orange tree.
People listen and watch us more than we know. And this is especially true of children. So let us be mindful of our words, our actions, our character. We don't have to be a brain surgeon to make a difference in another's life. But by simply being the best of who we are, we could help to create one.
Pax tecum.
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