Digging up pearls of wisdom

The world can be a dark and crazy place. I shake my fist in anger. And then I remember to take a step back and take stock. I replace the frustration with peace and calm and start to see that the world has a lot of good too. With clearer eyes, I amazed to find that there’s wisdom all around us.

Here’s four pearls of wisdom that stopped me in my tracks in recent days:

—In the nick of time. I read about a Philadelphia sports talk radio host who retired in July after being on the air for 31 years. Glen Macnow, who had started out as a sports reporter before venturing into the world of sports talk radio, said he knew it was the right time to leave, but the decision was still bittersweet. Macnow told the Philadelphia Inquirer: “I’m at the point of life where time is the most important currency.”

A few days later, I found the principal stated another equally profound way. “Luxury to me is waking up and doing whatever I want.”

Oh, I still have a good number of years before I can retire. Dagnabbit! If it were up to me, I’d retire tomorrow and wander the world. No scratch that: I like being busy. So I’d continue to work. But if I didn’t like something, I’d have the authority to say, “Times up folks, I’m outta here. I’m out to see the world.”

In the meantime, I’ve found that time has become increasingly important to me. It’s really rather simple:

• Time is more important than money.
• I’ll pay more for services for more time in my schedule. I’ll take less money, if my job gives me more time back or gives me a stronger reason to care about the job.
• I care more about time now than I ever have in my life.

In the end, it’s a simple premise, time waits for no one. Time is the most valuable thing a man or woman has.

—Do good, even when no one is watching. When my youngest son was home for the summer, he came home one night from work excited. A manager had been watching him and offered him some praise about the way he did his job. She appreciated that he put effort into his work and that he cared.

He joked that he didn’t even think the manager knew who he was. I’m not sure what brought it back, but hearing him talk about the moment reminded me of my junior year of high school and my Home Room Teacher. For whatever reason, I had home room in the Home Ec room. The room was kind of a strange place to have home room, but it was what it was. I barely knew the teacher. She had started at the school just a few years prior and I rarely came in contact with her.

But boy did she know me.

I was usually quiet in class. I was either finishing up homework or if it was the end of the day, I was getting ready for cross country practice or some extracurricular activity. At the same time, I had a night job as a cashier at a local grocery store. One night right before my shift was up, my home room teacher came running into the store to grab a few groceries.

She saw me and we chatted briefly as I rung up her items. I thought nothing about the conversation. When I got ready to leave about 20 minutes later, my manager asked to see me. He told me that my teacher stopped by customer service on her way out to tell him how I was a great kid, kind and respectful, and “if he was smart, he would work to keep me there as long as he could.”

The manager liked that last line. He got a good laugh at that. “I guess I gotta keep you now,” he said handing me a can of soda and a bag of chips, my usual end-of-shift snack, before telling me good night. Like my son, I’m still amazed how good work goes a long way.

—Be there through the good and the bad. Life tends to give us many highs and lows. And then you have moments like this one. Of all the images and shots that came out of the Paris Olympics this is by far my favorite: An athlete and her supportive father.

@children_needfathers

Such a beautiful dad and daughter moment from @fred_sirieix and @andreassirieix04 ❤️ #BBCOlympics #Olympics #Paris2024 #Diving #AndreaSpendoliniSirieix #FredSirieix

♬ Very Sad – Enchan

—Make every word count. I had a few minutes between meetings last week and I was scrolling on my phone. I’m not sure I could tell you anything I saw except for the last video. I’m not a Grey’s Anatomy fan. I’ve never really watched the ABC show, but I came across a scene from Season 2 where a mother offers advice to her daughter. She tells her what to look for in a future husband and how to handle her aunt, all leading up to her telling her that she is dying.

It’s a touching scene. Yes, it plays up the melodrama, but is still touching all the same. The warmth between the characters reminded me of actor J.K. Simmons advice a few years ago when he won the Best Supporting Actor award at the Oscars for his work in the movie, Whiplash.

“Call your mom, everybody,” Simmons said. “I’m told there’s like a billion people or so (watching). Call your mom. Call your dad, if you are lucky enough to have a parent or two alive on this planet. Don’t text. Don’t e-mail. Call ’em on the phone. Tell them you love them, and thank them, and listen to them for as long as they want to talk to you.”

Yes, some good advice. And oh yea, to steal the morning roll call catchphrase of Sergeant Phil Esterhaus’s (Michael Conrad) from the great early 1980s TV Show, Hill Street Blues: “Hey, let’s be careful out there.” 

Yes, let’s be careful. And look for the good.