Do It For James
"If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail." - Abraham Maslow
How many times during your day do you stop and think about all the gifts in your life? Not material gifts, but the gifts that allow you to be an active member of society. The gifts that permit you to enjoy your breakfast, play with your kids, drive your car, do your job, enjoy time with your friends or to sit quietly in the corner and read your favourite book. For me, personally, I rarely take the time to acknowledge the thousands of God given gifts that assist me in taking an active role in the world I live in. That is until recently. Since I met James for the first time I find myself asking all kinds of questions to myself.
James is a young man, 7-8 years of age, who attends school, goes to daycare and when you see him for the first time, you would think that everything is fine. James, however, has been diagnosed as "globally delayed". Sounds intimidating. It is. James doesn't talk, he goes to school to try and learn the very basics of interacting with people, he has a worker with him for most of his day, and his future is going to be just more of his past. When he smiles though, he can light up a room, and when he gets mad he can give you the cold shoulder just as good as anybody. When you look into his eyes, it is like he knows something, but he just won't tell you. He has the sweetest face and you could fall in love with him very quickly. Just yesterday, as he was getting out of my car, I said have a good day James, and he turned and looked at me as if to say "I always have a good day".
That got me thinking. If James had all of my God given gifts for just one day, how would he use them. Do you think he would complain about having to get out of bed? Do you think he would forget to hug his wife or his mom? Do you think he would speed across town as if he was the only person on the road? Do you think he would say nasty things about other people? Do you think he would spend a part of his day gossiping? Do you think he would complain about his job? Do you think he would spend most of his day sitting in front of a machine, gambling? Or on a barstool, drinking? Or in an alley, doing drugs? Having experienced life as he is living it today, would he live my life as I do? I think not.
I believe we can all be in agreement that if James had the opportunity, he would use these new found gifts to the fullest. But life is not like that. I cannot give my gifts to James, not even for one day. But I can cherish the gifts I have been given and use them to extent that my talent and ability allows me to. If each one of us had to live James' life for a day, how would we respond? Everything you do in life is by choice. What you think, what you say, what you eat, what you read, what education you get, what job you work at, who your friends are, what vices you have, everything in your life is there because you made the decision to make it that way. You can blame someone else, you can blame your childhood, you can blame your genetics, but you made the choice. Therefore, you can make the positive choices as well. Unfortunately for James, his choices are already made for him.
So the next time your having a bad day, take a look around, just maybe you will see James, staring out the car window, wondering what it would be like to have all those gifts and what it would be like to have all those choices. Then, as you look into his eyes, make a commitment to use your God given gifts to the best of your ability, and as you make that commitment, smile, wave and say "I'll Do It For James".
How many times during your day do you stop and think about all the gifts in your life? Not material gifts, but the gifts that allow you to be an active member of society. The gifts that permit you to enjoy your breakfast, play with your kids, drive your car, do your job, enjoy time with your friends or to sit quietly in the corner and read your favourite book. For me, personally, I rarely take the time to acknowledge the thousands of God given gifts that assist me in taking an active role in the world I live in. That is until recently. Since I met James for the first time I find myself asking all kinds of questions to myself.
James is a young man, 7-8 years of age, who attends school, goes to daycare and when you see him for the first time, you would think that everything is fine. James, however, has been diagnosed as "globally delayed". Sounds intimidating. It is. James doesn't talk, he goes to school to try and learn the very basics of interacting with people, he has a worker with him for most of his day, and his future is going to be just more of his past. When he smiles though, he can light up a room, and when he gets mad he can give you the cold shoulder just as good as anybody. When you look into his eyes, it is like he knows something, but he just won't tell you. He has the sweetest face and you could fall in love with him very quickly. Just yesterday, as he was getting out of my car, I said have a good day James, and he turned and looked at me as if to say "I always have a good day".
That got me thinking. If James had all of my God given gifts for just one day, how would he use them. Do you think he would complain about having to get out of bed? Do you think he would forget to hug his wife or his mom? Do you think he would speed across town as if he was the only person on the road? Do you think he would say nasty things about other people? Do you think he would spend a part of his day gossiping? Do you think he would complain about his job? Do you think he would spend most of his day sitting in front of a machine, gambling? Or on a barstool, drinking? Or in an alley, doing drugs? Having experienced life as he is living it today, would he live my life as I do? I think not.
I believe we can all be in agreement that if James had the opportunity, he would use these new found gifts to the fullest. But life is not like that. I cannot give my gifts to James, not even for one day. But I can cherish the gifts I have been given and use them to extent that my talent and ability allows me to. If each one of us had to live James' life for a day, how would we respond? Everything you do in life is by choice. What you think, what you say, what you eat, what you read, what education you get, what job you work at, who your friends are, what vices you have, everything in your life is there because you made the decision to make it that way. You can blame someone else, you can blame your childhood, you can blame your genetics, but you made the choice. Therefore, you can make the positive choices as well. Unfortunately for James, his choices are already made for him.
So the next time your having a bad day, take a look around, just maybe you will see James, staring out the car window, wondering what it would be like to have all those gifts and what it would be like to have all those choices. Then, as you look into his eyes, make a commitment to use your God given gifts to the best of your ability, and as you make that commitment, smile, wave and say "I'll Do It For James".
posted by Taximan at 9:48 AM
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