What about the people on the side of the road wearing the big Gorilla, Statue of Liberty or Uncle Sam outfits? There is one guy who has been standing on the same corner wearing a huge "Cash for Gold" sign around his neck near my house for so long that we just nod every time we drive by like old friends. He's there in sunshine, rain, sleet or snow. How in the world do you get to that place in life?
How did I get to this place in life? It is all relative in a way. The cash for gold guy has a stable job in advertising where he gets to work outdoors and meet lots of people. By the same token, I work in the music industry. Granted, I often play to people who wouldn't know if I were playing Yankee Doodle or Bob Dylan; and I almost always can smell horse poo from where I play!
One way or another, we choose paths for ourselves whether we acknowledge it consciously or not. I got to this place as a result of many small and seemingly insignificant decisions. Here is a loose time line of a few of those decisions:
1. 1979: I'm sitting in my Mammaw Beam's den while my aunts, uncles, Dad, Mom, brother, and cousins play and sing "Just a Little Talk With Jesus," "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," and "Salty Dog." In that electric atmosphere of laughter, singing, and joyful rhythm, something so deep resonates in my soul that I think; I will do that or die trying. So, I decide to start learning the instrument that was in our house that made the most sense to me, the piano. (The guitar hurt my fingers too much, and I couldn't make out why the pitches weren't in order.)
2. 1989: I decide that I love horses so much that I choose to go to a horse show to show my horse instead of going to the big Mid-South Marching Band Competition with my High School Band. Band was a BIG deal where I came from, and I wrestled with that decision. For better or worse, it was an indicator of things to come for me. Music and horses... How can I make this work together? Hmmm.
3. 1999: After having moved to New York City (my apartment just happened to be around the corner from the only stable in Manhattan, where the handsome cab carriage horses stayed) and having marginal success playing music in piano bars, cabaret rooms, hotel lobbies, and church, I decided I needed a life at least a little bit more familiar to what I had known growing up. So I decide to move, not all the way home to Alabama, but quite a bit closer; I split the difference and moved to Nashville, TN and started taking gigs at tiny horse shows to pay my bills.
4. 2009: New Year's Day, I have found my place, I have a new wife, home, career, I'm playing all over the U.S. at very prestigious horse shows, making a respectable living, but I still feel the need to grow, change, get better, so I start writing my blog: "Start Somewhere" and here we are. I have a place, a purpose, goals, and I am a part of something way bigger than myself through sharing the light that Jesus Christ shines through my life, music, art, and hopefully what I write here.
Back to cash for gold guy. I mean no disrespect toward him. I simply want to pose the question: how did he get there?
I am going to make a few assumptions.
1: Too few smart, encouraging people noticed him, so he settled for what attention he could get: whoever happened to be passing by.
2: He had to figure out a way to provide for himself, which he did, but the best he could find still left him standing on the street corner trying to get attention.
3: He comes to believe that he is worth no more than a pole for a road sign.
4: He tries to make the best of the busy street corner where he finds himself.
I am wondering what the main differences between his story and mine were, and it comes down to people who cared enough about me to expect me to do great things and repeatedly tell me so. A few people in my life imposed big dreams on me, and I lived up to them. My parents gave me no other choice but to be a person of strong character, from as early as I can remember. I was given room to make choices for myself, and had sound advice from people who loved me everywhere I turned. Where did I meet these people? Family, church, school, horse shows. In that order.
I have written many times about the importance of mentors, and I am not finished. I owe so much to people who have believed in me, and I want to remember to believe in the kids around me, and always encourage them beyond their own circumstances.
The handsome little guy I'm sitting beside in the photo is one of the coolest kids I know. And I can guarantee you that he will not be wearing any Uncle Sam outfit in front of the payday loan store. Why? Because we are paid for what we know, and that little man already knows a lot more than me!
If you are wondering who you could mentor, look about waist high just about anywhere you go. They're everywhere! And they might be your boss one day, or driving you to the doctor, or wiping your... eyeglasses for you.
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