THE WHY

“One Kid”

Six years ago, I sat in my high school’s auditorium as a sixteen-year-old boy intensely watching a man by the name of Chris Herren walk out onto the stage. There wasn’t a smile on his face but rather an anxious yet confident way about him. He stood there and stared into the crowd of students, and for a moment, I felt as if he locked eyes with me. He put the mic up to his mouth and calmly said two words. “One Kid.” That’s all he said before another fifteen seconds of silence, and then he finally followed it up with, “Let me reach one kid today; if I can change one kid’s attitude, perspective, or life today- I can leave satisfied. 

He then went on to give an unbelievable speech about his story, but the truth is out of every single word he said, that phrase “One Kid” has been on repeat in my head over the past couple of years. His strong Boston accent was saying, “One Kid.” Let me explain why. You see, so often, people believe that it takes something significant to change lives. Maybe you feel a million dollars will change your life, perhaps you consider getting a celebrity girlfriend or boyfriend, or maybe it’s having a breakthrough in your career. You get the point; we all have thought this way at some point in our lives. It’s natural because sometimes, our view of success isn’t always the clearest view of what it is at the end of the day. So when I tell you that just two words get replayed in my head day after day, which has caused a significant change in my life, it might sound foolish. And to that, I say, sometimes all it takes is one word.

Since that afternoon when Chris spoke to my classmates and me, these past six years have been the rockiest years of my life. That has a lot to do with simply growing up, though. I’ve experienced my highest highs and lowest lows. It happens to everyone, and it will always be challenging, but when you aren’t prepared for it, that’s when things get real. Let me tell you, though, being at rock bottom can lead you to the most beautiful things in your life. For me, it was a time to sit back and reflect finally. I talked to people and got help in areas I needed to. And no, that doesn’t mean I’m now this Megatron person that is unstoppable. I am someone who has reflected on what went wrong, areas I lack in, and who has found a new purpose. I reflected on things like the “One Kid” mentality, and I started to understand how to use that in my life.

I know I keep saying it, but I won’t say how those words impact my everyday life. Ok, I’ll tell you. Well, I picked up a new job as an Uber driver for the past two months. When I first started, it was a way to make money like every other job pretty much. I would go out, work for 2-3 hours. Pick people up and drop them off. Repeat. But One night, I came home, picked up a notebook and a pen. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I felt uneasy and just wanted to ease my anxiety that night. So, a thought clicked in my mind.

I had given six people rides that night and had entire conversations with 5 of them. So I just started writing about them and what they had taught me. I gave each person a random made-up name and just wrote and wrote for about 30 minutes. When I closed the notebook, I realized just how amazing my job was. I felt like I had the most unique and important job in the world for a second. So I sat and reflected. I remembered those two words, “one kid,” and it made total sense to me for the first time in my life. I have a job where I pick up a random stranger that needs a ride at the exact time I’m working, and these strangers have had entirely different hardships, joys, and life lessons that I might not have. That goes vice versa as well. 

So, a few days later, I woke up and felt a bit lost and was full of anxiety, mostly due to a situation I was dealing with. I broke down, went to my basement, and just prayed. I said, “God, you gotta help me, please help me.” Definitely a desperate prayer, but sometimes you gotta let it out. The whole day was rough but at 4p.m I went out to start work. On my third ride of the night, I picked up one of the most special people I’ve ever met, and he had changed my day, my month, and helped me to find a new perspective. That story will be one of my first blog posts, so if you want to know the story of this person and me, you can find it there.

If you take anything from this post, let it be this. You are constantly interacting with people. Strangers, friends, lovers, family. Whatever day it is, unless you are in quarantine or living in a bunker in Kansas, you are going to interact with someone each day. For 20 years, I took that for granted-not any more. Now, when I lay down at night before sleeping, I define my day by two major goals. Did I get to know God better today, and did I interact with others in a way that I  helped make their lives more positive, and did I learn from at least one person today? And maybe you don’t believe in the same things I do from a faith perspective, but everyone can relate to the second goal I mentioned. So I started to realize that if I really wanted to, I could accomplish those goals every day. 

So here I am, writing a blog. I never thought I would say those words. I never thought anything would be interesting enough, and I was always afraid of being judged by others. Sometimes things feel so important that you put all worries and concerns behind you and take a risk, so that’s exactly what I’m doing. All I want to do is share what I learn from amazing individuals each day. 

So as I start this journey, I have one thought in my mind. God, with each post, let me reach at least “one person”...just like those words I heard on that instrumental day years ago, “one kid”.