A gift in the spirit of Christmas
The other night I had the chance to meet my youngest son, Sean, for a bite to eat and a beer. We rendezvoused at the Goose Hollow Inn, just off MAX, where regulars in business overcoats and tam o'shanters debated loudly at the bar and college students filled the corner booths. When I was younger, my father would occasionally say 'let's get together and have a beer', and I greatly enjoyed doing so because as a child in a large family my face to face time with him was somewhat limited.
In my turn, I enjoy sharing social occasions with my own sons (and my lovely daughter). So this was a night that promised pleasure and a chance to keep this relationship closer and current. However, I got more than I expected. After we'd placed our orders and taken care of some housekeeping conversations, Sean launched into a story.
At its heart this was his tale. He'd been walking through the cold blustery weather on his way to work when he found himself discouraged at the phenomenal amount of trash and blowing papers on the sidewalk and streets ahead. His first response was to grumble about other people and their laziness in just throwing down their debris. But a second thought followed on the heels of the first. That was his sudden insight that he could grumble about the situation and walk on carrying that grumpiness in his heart but it would change nothing in the world. He realized that his negative feeling was entirely his own and that he could change that by choosing what he did. He started picking up trash as he walked. He told himself that he would, for his own peace of heart, make it a commitment to pick up at least one piece of garbage each time he went somewhere. That gave him an energized feeling that negated his grimness.
He was on his way to Subway to get a sandwich, and when he entered the store, he engaged in pleasantries with the clerk. He decided to share the thought he'd just had with the clerk, someone he didn't even know. And the clerk responded with an enthusiastic endorsement of the idea which reinforced Sean's feeling that this was something that was 'right' because it was something he was choosing to do in his own initiative.
I listened to his story and felt myself grinning deep in my heart. This was such a wonderful gift to me, to hear my son expressing a thoughtfulness, integrity, and sense of personal commitment to good that came from within him. It said to me that he indeed, my son, was the kind of young man that I would have wanted him to be, finding his way, but doing so with good tools and a good heart. Truly, I could not ask for much more than that.
davidrites
In my turn, I enjoy sharing social occasions with my own sons (and my lovely daughter). So this was a night that promised pleasure and a chance to keep this relationship closer and current. However, I got more than I expected. After we'd placed our orders and taken care of some housekeeping conversations, Sean launched into a story.
At its heart this was his tale. He'd been walking through the cold blustery weather on his way to work when he found himself discouraged at the phenomenal amount of trash and blowing papers on the sidewalk and streets ahead. His first response was to grumble about other people and their laziness in just throwing down their debris. But a second thought followed on the heels of the first. That was his sudden insight that he could grumble about the situation and walk on carrying that grumpiness in his heart but it would change nothing in the world. He realized that his negative feeling was entirely his own and that he could change that by choosing what he did. He started picking up trash as he walked. He told himself that he would, for his own peace of heart, make it a commitment to pick up at least one piece of garbage each time he went somewhere. That gave him an energized feeling that negated his grimness.
He was on his way to Subway to get a sandwich, and when he entered the store, he engaged in pleasantries with the clerk. He decided to share the thought he'd just had with the clerk, someone he didn't even know. And the clerk responded with an enthusiastic endorsement of the idea which reinforced Sean's feeling that this was something that was 'right' because it was something he was choosing to do in his own initiative.
I listened to his story and felt myself grinning deep in my heart. This was such a wonderful gift to me, to hear my son expressing a thoughtfulness, integrity, and sense of personal commitment to good that came from within him. It said to me that he indeed, my son, was the kind of young man that I would have wanted him to be, finding his way, but doing so with good tools and a good heart. Truly, I could not ask for much more than that.
davidrites
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