The Walk of Life
By: Steven Andrew Schultz
Through love you can live forever. He died when I was in 5th grade, where I learned that even heroes fall, but don’t fade. I saw my grandpa, Richard Hill, every day before and after school from kindergarten to 5th grade. I attended Gisler (a FVSD school) and each day after school we would go on walks around the neighborhood. To my little feet the walks seemed exhausting, but to my older soul, those walks were edifying. Experience doesn’t make you better; reflection on experience does. Even though I couldn’t see it then, those strolls through my neighborhood my grandpa was teaching me life lessons on how to be successful.
Here is the wisdom from the walks:
First, break your goals down into smaller markers. There were a few fire hydrants along the path and instead of thinking about how far away the end of the walk was, he had me just focus on reaching the next fire hydrant. Then the bigger goals became easier. Don’t worry about how far away the end is, focus on what is the thing you need to do next. Excellence is a combination of what you’re doing now and next. Every time my impatience self would bemoan: how much farther? My grandpa would point and say, “Find the fire hydrant. Always find the next fire hydrant.”
As we went on our walk there were some houses where scary dogs would start barking and rush the gates of the yard. In the beginning, whenever barking dogs rushed the gates I would stop, frozen in fear, so my grandpa would nudge me to keep walking because he said if you stop for every barking dog on your walk you’ll never get to where you’re going. And anyone who has any kind of leadership position is going to have people barking at them. Dogs bark because they are intimidated and feel threatened you are coming into their territory and some dogs are just nuts and will bite you. While it’s important to listen to substantiated criticism, learn to keep walking when you encounter haters who tell you why you can’t or why you won’t get to where you’re going. When you know who you are, it doesn’t matter what others claim you are. Keep walking and don’t bark back. Say “bless you” to every “screw-you!” Love is more powerful than fear or hate. Let Love lead you.
While you walk past the dogs, you stop and share time with the birds. On our walk there were a few homes that had the plant Bird of Paradise in their yards, and we would stop there each time. Grandpa Hill taught me that it’s vital that every day while you’re in pursuit of your goals, to stop and breathe in what’s beautiful around you and in you. Don’t be so focused on arriving that you miss out on the beauty of the walk. Take time each day to stop and listen to the birds of paradise.
And when we reached the end, on our way home we would stop in Ellis Park and go play on the playground. There I learned the secrets of the sandbox. The swings taught me that you go much higher in life when someone is behind you pushing you up then on your own kicking your feet up. The slide taught me that you’re going to fall, but every time you slide down you have one job: dust yourself off and climb back up. You always climb back up every time you slide down. The taught me that even the most magnificent sandcastles get destroyed by the person who comes next, so nothing physical lasts. What’s most valuable is invisible. See to it that Love is seen. And my favorite was the Teeter-Totter, because my grandpa used it differently than anyone I ever saw. Instead of the normal give and take, my grandpa would stay at the bottom and elevate me to the top of the teeter-totter and make me feel like I was flying. He would shake it sometimes too and make me giggle. While most adults lead transactional lives, only giving when given, my grandpa taught me on the teeter-totter how to lead a transformational life, where you lower your ego to the dirt and elevate the other to the sun by giving love with no receipt because you never expect it to be returned. You just stay down there elevating others, giving your love and light away never needing them to boost you back up (although some will). I had never seen a stand-still teeter-totter before as a child on a playground and rarely in adult life. The seesaw give only to get mentality most live won’t make your successful. Like the sandcastle, those superficial, selfish lives blow away. Lives of love are what last. Being a teeter-totter leader where you minimize your ego and elevate others in love, is how you create impact. And impact creates immortality.
On your walk of life, may you help people find the fire hydrants, keep walking when rushed by the barking dogs, stop and enjoy the Birds of Paradise, and be teeter-totter leaders who sacrifice self in service to others, elevating them to the sky through feeling loved. It’s been over twenty-five years since my grandpa left me, but he still leads me. The love given in life continues when your life can’t. He’s dead, but not done. He walks with me still.
