I was feeling sorry for myself today. Today’s the first day that I’m not working at my old
job, and I was feeling kind of down, kind of worthless for not being in a better position to take care of my family. I‘m driving a limo for my buddy John, which is a real blessing because it’s some work while I’m looking for something more permanent.
So I’m out at the airport, waiting for a client who‘s flying in from Minneapolis, and I’m at the holding lot where all the limo drivers and the taxicab drivers wait for their time to go up to the airport to pick up their customers. And I’m watching the Monday night football pre-game show, and they’re talking about this guy Shaquem Griffin who plays for the Seattle Seahawks who has only one hand. He was born with a birth defect and when he was a baby he had to have his left hand amputated. But it didn’t stop him from doing what he wanted to do in life, and now he’s at the pinnacle of his career playing on an NFL football team.
As I'm watching the story, a man comes up and stands next to me, watches for a minute, then turns and says “That’s incredible. I didn’t know that there was someone playing in the NFL who has only one hand.” And I reply that I didn’t either. We talk about how people overcome incredible obstacles.
After the spot has aired, we're standing there talking and he says that he heard about a man who didn’t have any arms or legs who's a motivational speaker, and he pulls out his phone and pulls up YouTube and shows me a video of Nick Vujicic, an Australian who was born with tetra-amelia syndrome, a rare disorder characterized by the absence of arms and legs. There are only seven known cases in the world. Nick is a motivational speaker who travels the world talking about how we can all overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The video https://youtu.be/zOzsjEmjjHs brings both of us to tears.
My new friend talks about how, whenever his kids get down about how hard their life is, he shows them this video about Nick . I'm thinking, ‘Right now I’m feeling pretty sorry for myself and along comes this guy! Wow!" In that moment, I begin pulling up all the gifts that I have in life and how I am so blessed to be healthy and have such a great family and have all the possibilities of life ahead of me. What do I have to feel sorry about?
The moment ends and I say goodbye to the man, thank him for the kick in the butt and start heading out the door. Wait a second! I turn around and go back in and say,
“Wait, what's your name?"
"Haziz," he replies smiling.
"Thank you for the gift," I say, then ask, "Can we get a photo together? I want to remember this moment.”
"Of course," he replies with a smile.
So here‘s my angel, Haziz, who pulled me out of my little funk today and helped me realize that I’ve got nothing to feel sorry about, only things to look forward to.
Here’s to you, Haziz! You made my day!