“Here is the test to find out whether or not your mission on earth is finished: if you are alive, it isn’t.” ~Richard Bach
Of all the things I want my children to be, it’s servers. People who serve. People who look around for someone who is lonely, and make eye contact. People who stop to hold doors. People who give up their seat for someone who needs it more. And mostly people who see the value in every human being they meet. When my boys were born, I started a journal for each of them. The very first entry in each book is from me, and says something like this:
“My baby boy, I helped you get here, into this crazy world. I am already crazy about you. Take my hand. I will walk with you for a few years, and I will care for you for all of them. In turn, I hope you will care for others. I hope that everyone who knows you will be better for having known you. You have two beautiful little hands. One is for helping yourself, and the other is for helping others. Always serve, look around for those who need a hand, and never, ever throw anyone away.”
They made me so proud when each one spoke at my Dad’s funeral. Each one of them saw him, not as a person who had screwed up (which he had) or as a person who had served time (which he had) but as a person who mattered. Who made a difference in their lives. He served them, and many others in so many small ways. Spending time. Nature walks. Drawing, pawn shop outings and lemonade in the shade. He served them by just being with them. He taught them the value of never throwing anyone away. He taught them to serve…simply.
The small acts of service he showed inspire me every day. I get so caught up in the big and the busy. Every time I see his picture, I am reminded to dial it back. To pause and put down the damn phone. To be a server. To see the students right in front of me, and leave them better than I found them. To thank the baristas, visit the sick friend, help someone cross.
In addition to the small and simple, I am committed to the big. I am the first born after all. It’s in my DNA to dream big and take risks. Yoga Assets will be in 6 states by this time next year. We will have trained over 700 servers. I am as proud of each of them as I am my own three boys. Yoga Forward will be serving in hundreds of schools, jails, prisons, shelters, and treatment facilities. We will keep supporting our students as they serve in small and big ways.
How can I support you in being a better server? I’ll leave you with this:
May God bless you with the foolishness to think that you can make a difference in the world, so that you will do the things which others tell you cannot be done. Life is long. May there be many great days ahead of you..and may you use them to be a great server.
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