Own Your Life

Yesterday I saw a man walking out of the Cathedral staring at his phone. He had his phone about an inch away from his face and I thought, "What the hell is this guy doing?" Then my eyes panned over to his other hand. He had a white cane in it.

The guy was beaming looking at his phone. He was smiling at his phone even though he couldn't see it.  He was listening to his phone reading him a text message.

I haven't seen something like that in a long time. What I mean is that I haven't seen anything as genuinely moving as that blind man.

This man couldn't see the message being read to him and he would never even see the person who sent him that message. And somehow he was smiling.

Later in the day yesterday I was sitting in the union and saw something else that brought a smile to my face. There was a group meeting of disabled people in one of the ballrooms. One after another people with down syndrome and people confined to wheelchairs made their way past me. One woman in particular made me think.

This woman, who was wheelchair bound, came wheeling out of the ballroom in her motorized wheelchair. It was obvious that she wasn't just physically but also mentally impaired. As she came past me I heard her wheels stop rolling at the front desk. The young girl sitting at the front desk asked if she could help the woman with anything and the woman simply responded, "No dear. I just wanted to wish you a happy holidays. Hopefully I see you again."

I was in awe. "Hopefully I see you again." The woman sounded so genuine in her hope that she would see the girl again. She didn't know the girl, but she genuinely hoped she would be back.

This woman, who was restricted both physically and mentally, took the time to wish a young girl a happy holidays.

So what's my excuse for not always being upbeat and downright cheery?

A grade on a test? A messed up interview?

There is no excuse.

The blind man and the woman in her wheelchair were owning their lives.

They weren't dealt the best hand but they play it out like they're anyone else.

I was humbled yesterday. And now I feel that I need to own my own life.

There's plenty for me to work on so I better get started.

NP: Quesadilla - Walk The Moon