What We All Want In Life Is A Shot

Occasionally I write about my desire for a kinder, gentler world; one where unconditional love and acceptance is the norm rather than the exception. On a daily basis, I try to be part of the solution, rather than part of the problem. Something as simple as a smile can change a stranger’s day. When I perform a tiny kindness, the recipient of my action feels good and unconsciously passes that kindness on. By the end of the day there’s no telling how many smiles my action generated, how many doors were held open for strangers, how many traffic accidents were averted because a driver let someone merge into the lane in front of him.

Many of us are examining our lives and finding that they have fallen short of our expectations, our desires, our dreams. Some of us realize that we had our values screwed up. We placed importance on things that did not really matter; things like money, fame, success; rather than the things that should have mattered, like honesty, respect, compassion, love, family, and friends. And many of us, myself included, are trying to make up for lost time.

Some days I can feel the world changing. With increasing frequency, I learn of situations where people have done the right thing rather than the convenient thing or made a compassionate decision with foreknowledge that the results may not be in their best interest. The video below is just one such instance. It’s the story of autistic high school senior, Jason McElwain, whose coach let him play basketball in the last game of the season, with a surprising result. What we all want in life is a shot. It inspired me and renewed my commitment to treat everyone I meet with loving kindness.