10/13: REACH OUT
I realize that I am one of the oldest people in the gym, which gives me a different perspective on many things compared to our younger students. It's always weird for any generation to look at historical events compared to the age of the people around them and realize many of the things in their history books are the events we lived through. For those of us in our 50's, 9/11 was something we lived through, while it's just a historical event for teens and 20 somethings. Some of those things we lived through were terrible, others are fond rememberances of things that have faded with time.
One of the things that I fondly remember as a child were those random knocks on the door. Before cell phones and answering machines, this was how we interacted. A knock on the door almost always generated that little bit of excitement and anticipation knowing it was most likely a friend that was stopping by to say hi. Sadly, I think many of us probably rarely experience that anymore. Is it just me, or for the most part does it seem that those random knocks are now thought of as more of an annoyance than a blessing? I was happy to hear from a couple people in the gym that this still occurs in their neighborhood, and I hope it never stops for them. In the not too distant past, if you wanted to talk with more than one friend, all of you actually had to get together and be in the same place. I remember many times in HS and Jr High word would circulate through the school that "we" were playing football on this field at this time and whoever wanted to join in just showed up.
While I miss those times, it isn't completely gone even in adulthood, albeit it's still a little different. I have one friend who regularly texts me just to say hi and spread good cheer, and I started to notice that while I respond to him, I never randomly reciprocate. While I get very frustrated in this business trying to talk to new leads, often times never getting a return response, I started to notice that I have been spending way more time on people that really don't care about me than those that do. I have let the frustrations of those non-responders outweigh the joy of the people in my life that do reach out. It's very difficult for me to separate those facets of life because the very nature of this business is I am going to have to deal with so many people blowing me off on a monthly basis.
So, I have started to pay more attention to the people in my life that do reach out, and am trying to focus on the good people in my life instead of those that frustrate me. Based on the nature of this business in particular, if I don't, it's going to be nothing but frustration. I just wanted to say that I appreciate all the people at Gracie Barra Northville that believe in what we are doing: developing strong individuals through the medium of martial arts. I appreciate the coaches that dedicate their time. I appreciate the familes that trust us with their children's development. I appreciate the adult students who have almost unlimited choices in life that have chosen this gym as one of their personal growth activities.
If there are people in your life that you haven't heard from in a while, take the time to reach out and say hello. Find out how they are doing. Just spread some good cheer. You never know what kind of difference you might make in their day..... or even in their life.
