Ready?

I've always secretly envied people who seem to be calm, cool and collected no matter what life brings their way. Wait ... I guess my secret envy isn't secret anymore now that I've told all of you who read this blog ... oh, well ... I've revealed way bigger secrets and you guys keep reading, so I'm probably safe for tonight anyway. I'm willing to bet that almost all of you know someone who fits the calm, cool and collected description ... the person who never seems to get their feathers ruffled or lose their temper when someone irritates them ... the person who is sweet and kind and patient while waiting in the super long line at Old Navy on Black Friday ... the person who keeps smiling even when everyone around them is having a meltdown ... the person who doesn't freak out and bungee their dogs to the water pipes when it's storming (what kind of crazy person would do that???). But it's more than those things ... it's more than being calm, cool and collected ... those people seem to somehow live their lives in a constant state of readiness. Not only do they look forward to and anticipate each new day, each new challenge and each new adventure, they are ready ... ready and willing and chomping at the bit to participate in every single part of life's journey.

Perhaps it's because so many big things have happened in my life over the last couple of years that I find myself saying or thinking the words, "I'm not ready ... I'm not ready ... I'm not ready" over and over again. The crazy thing to me is that the more I chant the words "I'm not ready," the more it seems I'm challenged to step outside of my comfort zone and do something I've never done before or go somewhere I've never gone before or write something I've never written before or meet people I've never met before or speak to groups I've never spoken to before. The people closest to me would quickly tell you that, more often than not, I have to be pushed, pulled, dragged, chided and persuaded to do those undone things or go to those unvisited places or write those unwritten words or meet those unmet people or speak to those unspoken to groups.

When my son Brad called me a little over a year ago to tell me about his idea to make a feature documentary about a man he had never met ... when he asked me to help him find a way to reach the gentleman, I did what my son asked but I never thought the man would reply. Though I wanted it to happen for Brad, I didn't think we stood a chance of meeting the man, much less getting him to agree to let us document his life on film. But we did meet him. And he did agree to let us tell his story. And in a couple of days, we will begin sharing his incredibly powerful story with the world. 

Ready?