“What Do You Do?”
When we meet someone new, and we talk long enough, we will usually come to that big question. “What do you do?”
And do you notice that we have come to answer that question with our occupation or job status – only Part of our “Do”. Oh, I’m a baker, a barber, a banker a cook, a stay-at-home mom, all correct answers, but only a one-half answer.
But the truth is this – what we do in our lives goes way beyond our occupation. It has more to do with our example, our influence what we impart to others all day, every day. Because no matter how you spend your day, you will always be making your impression on others.
Take a moment and think of the people in your lifetime who you remember most – why does that person come to your mind? Because their influence made an impression on you that stuck – and whether you like it or not, what they did played a part in making you who you are today – even if their influence and the impression they made was bad or negative, chances are that you took that impression and decided to do or be the opposite.
Now my point is this with story to follow – we are all both sides of a model or mold. On one side, it is soft like clay. So, we are impressed by the influence of others. This is a big part of who we become as a person.
But the other side of this model or mold is an impression maker in every day, every moment of your life. You are making your impressions on someone else; you are playing your own part in making them who they are.
When I was a boy growing up in Texas, I played a lot of baseball, I had plenty of coaches and learned a lot about the game. But the one lesson I remember most was about much more than just baseball.
When I was 11. My team was playing for the league championship. And when it came to the final game, the final inning, the game was tied and the coach put me in to pitch – and with two outs, our catcher missed an easy play at home, and we lost the game. I was so mad that I threw down my hat and stomped off the field.
Later in the parking lot. My coach, Mr. Moody, called me over – I expected he was going to try and console my bruised spirit. But instead, he said “Jerry, I was disappointed in you tonight”. I thought he was talking about my pitching – but he wasn’t. He said “The way you acted on the mound when the error was made. That was not the way a boy or a man or anyone should act.”
And that’s when he told me something I have never forgotten.
He said “Your life will go on from here and how you do in life, your example, your impression, will be measured not by how hard you can throw a ball or run a base – your life will be measured by how you conduct yourself.”
After that night, I watched Mr. Moody and just how he conducted himself. He coached us hard – he loved to win. But above all, he never forgot who he was as a man, and his character always shined.
What we need today in America is men and women who not by their words, but by their actions, can be role models for our Nation, measured not by their accomplishments, but by their character.
Now, let me ask you, what do you do?