The Last Lecture
When I think of what I don’t have, I think about how others have less, and then I begin to realize what I do have. Somehow I adopted this longwinded twisted way of thinking that pulled me right through my childhood. And it certainly wasn’t because of what my parents said, but rather what they did.
During my adolescence when the world seemed like it was crumbling down and my parents seemed like the dumbest people on the planet, this lesson of gratitude and appreciation was what kept me to see past the dark clouds that seemed to linger over me! This picture of serving others was outlined for me at an early age of 4, but the full vision of their message did not become clear until I was a teenager.
My parent’s routine comment during dinner that kids in Africa were starving did not have the hopeful impact they were striving for! These words were just as meaningful as when my father would tell me not to speed on the highway, or stop at the stop signs… While they always reminded us to be thankful and that we should appreciate what we have, these words fell on deaf ears. I have the speeding tickets to prove this. All I heard was blah…blah…blah!
It was their service to other children that I witnessed first hand that provided the most meaningful lesson of serving others. It was their decision to adopt 11 children that I got to witness and partake in that caused me to step back and see the forest…
While I went through my moments of pity, and poor me thinking, I would witness another child come into our home that would provide a greater perspective and understanding of my own life.
And so while I think about what I am most thankful for on this Thanksgiving Day and every Thanksgiving Day, I think about this decision my parents made to adopt me at the age of 4…This one decisive decision they made opened the door to so many opportunities for me to pay it forward.
So when we think about your opportunity and your business, ask yourself how is it serving others? And when you have those moments of thinking you want to quit, like we all did at one point or another, because the pursuit of your dreams is far more challenging than you had planned it to be, take a step back and reflect on what you have learned…about yourself and about others.
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Hahahahahahaha, this politics related YouTube video is really so comic, I liked it. Thanks in favor of sharing this The Lectures of My Parents Fell on Deaf Ears… | Shane & Kim Franklin.