motivation

Girl from Ipanema

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“In the summer, I went out on the streets and sweat. In the winter, I went out on the streets and shivered.” Those words uttered by Vic to me left an indelible mark.

I met Vic by chance, near the turn of the century, one summer’s afternoon in San Antonio. A friend of mine organized a lunch get together at a Chinese restaurant. By chance, Vic sat next to me. I found myself looking at a thin, almost gaunt man, a bit over six feet. Vic had two arms like everyone at the meal. Only one was functional. Vic was a Maryknoll priest. He told me he loved to play the piano, but a brain operation caused him the functional use of one arm. He could still play his favorite song from memory and his heart, Girl from Ipanema, with his right hand.

I asked Vic about his different assignments. He told me one of his assignments was in Harlem. I said, “What did you do in Harlem?”

Vic said, “Every day I went out on the streets to be the people. In the summer I sweat with them. In the winter, I shivered with them. It worked for me.”

Vic’s words got me to thinking that most people want the loving presence of another more than they want to hear their words. This is

When I learned to sweat in the summer and shiver in the winter with others, I learned how to be fully present to other people in a unique and meaningful way.

Today, I will make an extra effort to sweat with those whom I come in contact.

winter harlem

Shiver and Sweat

Keep on Doing

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I wonder how my mom felt when her mom died when she was two. I wonder how my dad felt when his father died when he was fourteen. I wonder how he felt when he had to quit school in 8th grade to help support his family. I wonder how he felt when he was drafted to fight in a war he didn’t start and had to leave a wife and child at home. I never asked them. I never thought to ask them. I didn’t have the wisdom to ask them. I missed important lessons I only learned through lived experiences.

My mom and dad, like so many people who face setbacks, kept on going, not complaining. They keep on doing what they had to do because they had to do it. Other people depended on them. That is how they were built. They didn’t look for a handout or a hand up. They kept on doing. I like that phrase, they kept on doing.

Today, I will keep on doing. I will keep on doing what I have to do because that is how I am built. It is the way you are built to. 

KEEP ON DOING

keep on doing

Joe’s Story – Baseball & Watermelon

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Joe’s parents immigrated to the U.S. from the Azores. Joe helped raise his brother after his dad died. He was the man of the family. His mom worked in a shoe factory doing piece work. Her twelve hour days left her exhausted. Joe, barely 17 when the war came, was a gifted athlete. Major league scouts watched him hit a baseball. Some claimed he was the next Dimaggio. Others said he was next Williams. College football scouts drooled watching Joe return punts and kickoffs for touchdowns for the high school team. Everyone told Joe he was going to make it big and become famous. Then, life happened, WWII came and the Army drafted Joe. He was an infantry soldier and landed in Normandy on D-Day. He fought on the front lines until the war ended. When the war ended and Joe was discharged, his mom was waiting at the train station for. A loaf of his favorite Portuguese sweet bread guarded carefully in a basket hanging from her forearm. His mom shouted to him in Portuguese as he stepped off the train. They embraced and cried and his mom made him eat her sweet bread. She died two days later.

Joe took a job as groundskeeper for the community athletic fields. He lined the ball diamond during the spring and summer. He chalked the track for high school track meets in the spring. In the fall, he lined the football field and was an assistant coach for the high school football team. In his spare time, Joe coached little league.

During the long hot summers, Joe stopped mowing the grass to pitch batting practice to the boys who showed up and wanted to play ball. He hit fly balls without tiring. He backed the boys to the backstop and played pepper with them. He was a dad to every boy who showed up. It didn’t matter who the boy was or where the boy came from. If he wanted to play ball, Joe welcomed him.

Every once in a while, when the day was hot and no one wanted to play ball, Joe would grab a bat and say to anyone who listened, “If I can hit a ball over the fence  (some 400 feet away) in twenty pitches, I’ll buy watermelons.” The boys all ran on the field to shag the balls. And the pitcher grooved one pitch after another to Joe. You could see it happening. Joe was a kid again, slapping a ball this way and that way. He was toying with the boys. Then, around the 15th pitch, Joe became serious. He’d drive the ball deep toward the fence. He knew, he always knew. He hit the 18th pitch over the fence, the boys cheered and piled into Joe’s pickup to get watermelon.

Why this story? It’s true, I knew Joe.

Joe’s life mirrors your life and mine. He had dreams. He had a gift. Then life changed it all for him. Joe never complained. Joe never held a pity party. He made the most of his life with what life gave him.

Joe is one of the heroes. Everyone who makes the most of life, whatever the circumstances are is a hero like Joe.

Joe Dimaggio

I used a photo of Joe Dimaggio for this post – it felt right. Joe, either one, wouldn’t mind.

Courage To Try

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“To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thoughts About Courage

It takes courage to live.

It takes courage to live an honorable life.

It takes courage to rise from defeat and begin anew.

It takes courage to stand up for what is right in the face of many who think you are wrong.

It takes courage to be a good mom.

It takes courage to be a good dad.

It takes courage to study in school and excel.

Doing the right thing. Living the right way. Leaving a legacy for which to feel proud takes living a life of courage.

It can be done

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