Big Ears = Big Life

There are no ‘do over’s!’  There is no dress rehearsal! And there will be no run through, read through or try again’s! I learned in my youth that I really only had one shot at making my life interesting. Interesting to me. But I also wanted people to talk of my interesting life when I passed.

My grandfather told great stories. Long stories… so by genetic default I may tend to ramble, but none-the-less Grandad’s stories held my attention. He talked of his life. He talked with animation and he smiled when he told stories of the past. He wasn’t always as cheery as he was when he was talking about something he was passionate about.

I liked his stories. And he came from a different time of course. Some place called ‘the old days’ and he was old, so it made sense. There were no cars, people wore suits and hats everywhere and you married the first lass who would go to a dance with you, in ‘the old days.’

Waiting for Grandad to get to the punch line, taught me to be a good listener. It’s something I hope to instill in my children. And with the way they tune out, I realize it’s going to be quite the task.

But a good listener is told all sorts of stories. Personal stories. Stories people want to share about their lives, which can often be fascinating and inspiring. Being empathetic and non-judgemental certainly helps people be open to a chat too.

When others talk to me I’m given a wealth of information, I’d never be able to read in books. Sometimes I hear opportunities that I may never have thought to seek out. Other times I’ve learned things like being grateful for not being a boy who was circumcised at 12-years of age! Ouch!

Alongside pursuing my own dreams and goals, my life has been enriched by choosing to experience things that others have told me about. Not all their stories have driven me to challenges. Yet some were life changing.

Being a Summer Camp Counsellor was not even on the radar, but meeting an English girl in a youth hostel in Miami helped me down that path. From there I wandered down another path to a new citizenship and years of living a diverse life, well off my original plan, in a foreign country.

What will people say about how you lived your life when it’s your time to leave the earth? And I don’t mean, when you move to Mars!