Today was a great day. My husband and I showed our kids how to hit a ball with a bat and how to catch a ball with a baseball mitt. They loved it. This evening after deciding what to do with the waning daylight, my daughter asked if she and I could go “play catch”. So the boys brought a football, and the gals brought their mitts, and off to the park we went. After playing for awhile, the kids strayed, and my husband and I kept playing catch together.
I remembered how much I love doing that. How much I love the conversation that spawns amongst the smack of the ball in the mitt—–and then, the kicker—
I asked my husband who used to play catch with him, and his answer was ” no one”. Then I remembered back to my own treasured childhood friend, who used to play catch with me. it wasn’t my mom or my dad, it was my friend Chad. We would play all day until my hand hurt. He coached me in hitting and catching, and was lovingly insatiable in helping me get it right. He would change it up just when I thought I had mastered it. The stinging palm I have right now, feels the same as it did when I was 10, (and had been outside for 10 hours, trying to get it right).
Sooooooo….back to “The Value of YOUR Contribution”.
Chad didn’t know that one generation later, his endless summer days spent helping his friend master a skill, would pass down to a generation of children who otherwise would not be exposed. He didn’t know that his loving tutelage would have children 30 years later, falling asleep pleased with themselves and loving the smell of sweaty leather. Yes, he did that.
So, dear one. What is YOUR contribution? What is that thing you would do “just because” that may have impact farther down the line (even if you don’t know it yet). Really. Go do it. You may not even be around to see that impact (like Chad isn’t), but you have changed the world by being here. Isn’t that the point. Please, I beg you, go do YOUR thing.
