Dive into Life! What inspires you to make a difference?

What defines your life? Are you in the bleacher seats of life or diving into the fray of crazy circumstances that at times are unpredictable? After having watched the latest version of Wonder Woman I know that there will be a lot of young gals wanting so much to take on the evils of the world. I love the images of young little Dianna trying to follow in the footsteps of her mom and aunt. Little did this young gal know that her future would impact the world and touch the lives of so many at least per DC!

This last week my inspiration was a grandma, Bernice who is 84 and a young college student, Noah who is 19. I have a difficult time answering the question of how old are you Dave? I’m so tentative because of having someone label me as being old. Yet, I laugh as I look at my 90-year-old father in-law who breaks the records for still engaging in life. Then there is my special friend Bernie. She is so impressive in that she can see my pics on Facebook of our latest event and then like, comment and repost often. Why is this octogenarian so able to engage and live her life to the max? I have to admit that her smile is so contagious and engaging. You can’t look at Bernie without being drawn into her life!

Each summer I get to relive my childhood as we do our Barrio Summer #17 presently. I’m so fortunate to have a group of college students who help-out. What’s always impressive is watching some of my interns that totally get it and dive into the lives of our kids and teens and others who are well intentioned but seem to be waiting for something to happen before they befriend a kid, teen or grandma. I think we’ve all heard the analogy of someone that talks about fishing, goes out and buys a reel, rod and even a boat. Yet, never actually ventures out to a canal, lake or the ocean. Why in the world would I go through the motions and never take a chance to catch a fish?

Yet, sadly too often I see frowns, excuses for why someone can’t do something and then as this person watches someone else go down the massive waterslide I see this look of WOW and then a hidden smirk of jealousy. This summer I’ve already been drawn into the fray as I have watched Noah, a totally new intern, dive into the action. He hadn’t gone tubbing before and was so willing to make it look so easy as he did different maneuvers that the boat load of kids, teens and college students clearly envied. So why does someone like Bernie and Noah make it look so easy to live life to the max?

I know that it’s so easy to allow fears, circumstances and labels to stop me from doing something different or take a risk and make a totally different friend. Yet, I will always remember the day at Candlestick Park watching the Giants play the Reds in the bleachers with a group of teens. Little did I know that day I would catch a home run ball by Barry Larkin. The ball seemed to go high into the air yet, little did I know that soon I would be fighting a big guy next to me who was chanting throw it back, throw it back. I was so fortunate to have a big security guard come to my rescue so I didn’t have to throw back the homerun ball.

So, dive into life, make a big splash and watch others around watch with a tinge of jealousy. So, make a difference today and be an inspiration to someone else.