I recently shared my condolences with a fellow Hiveian who lost a relative, and it got me to thinking about my own life. I've been blessed with good health, and am one of those guys who aside from bad colds, never gets sick, and I don't get the flu every year as others do, and haven't had it since I was a kid.

However, even as a very thoughtful little boy, I've always felt I wouldn't live a long life, and I already felt old when I turned 17, and dreaded really "being" old when I was nearing 18. I was an 'Old Soul' in a young body.

So there was always this urgency to do as much good in whatever time God had left for me. One of the reasons I don't like to fly is based on that, as there's still so much good left to do in the world, and I'm still considered this local curiosity here; a man with a good heart.

I'm as puzzled by that aspect of myself being unusual to them, as their seeming lack of morals, empathy, and compassion, are to me. To me I'm the normal one, it's them that are abnormal, and I just don't understand it.

But it is what it is...

I've often felt like a Stranger in a Strange Land, to borrow that old book title. As if I'm from somewhere else nicer, and was dropped in here as some sort of bizarre experiment to see how the population would take to me.

Every once in awhile I'll meet others like me, but we're definitely a tiny minority, like little dots of islands popping up in the vast Pacific ocean.

I often liken us to tiny specks of salt seasoning a large slab of meat. We may be few in number, yet we have an out-sized effect on the people around us.

I once shared the story here of finding two little kids plucking the leaves off of a small, young, tree. It made no sense, and they were oblivious to the fact that if they continued, they would kill it. That is, until I explained how trees provide the oxygen that we all need to live on.

After that, they stopped.

It's the little things, you know?

Who knows if that moment might be recalled years from now, and may cause them to show a little mercy where some is needed. I wasn't even initially planning to turn right on that path in the park, but at the last moment, something drew me away from the left-hand path (Not THAT left-hand path! lol!). And so I was glad I ran into those kids, and hope that moment will pay off for them in the future.

"Doing the Work"

Little things like this are what I call "Doing the Work" every single day. It's my way of paying the rent to live on this sometimes crazy but often beautiful world that we live in.

Visiting and talking with talkative elderly people, knowing that it brings them joy. Picking up litter, sharp glass shards, or an upturned nail on the sidewalk, so that a young child isn't injured by it. Zeroing in on that lonely person in a crowded room that no one is talking to. I call that my "Wallflower Radar" it's a superpower of mine, as I can spot them instantly looking hopefully around and needing someone to talk to.

Sooner or later they look in my direction, then directly at me, and that's when its time to get to work.

You never know when your time will be up. Or the time of the person you're interacting with. I've spoken with a number of people that are no longer with us. It had gotten to the point where I noticed that each new job that I went to, it was usually months or at most, a couple of years, before someone died.

I'd get these premonitions, and then strike up a conversation with the person.

Sometimes, I'd have recurring dreams, veiled warnings about people. Often they would fade away, so I knew it meant nothing. But at times the same dream about them would occur with increasing frequency, and then I knew it was time for "The Talk.

I had a co-worker named Steve once. A decent man, who was MAGA before MAGA. I used to joke with him about the 'Tea Party Patriots' (He was a member), and we even talked once about Donald Trump running for president, and the absurdity of it.

After working together for a couple of years and having wonderful conversations, I started having premonitions about Steve. But I wasn't too worried, because they weren't accompanied but the ever-increasing-frequency of warning dreams.

But in time, those came...

Weeks apart at first, then every few days, then daily.

And I thought "God no. Not Steve."

He was the best employee on site and everybody liked him (except the wicked boss).

Unable to stand it anymore,I scheduled "The Talk" with him.

He already knew a bit about me by that time, as I joked with the crew a year or so prior, that after I showed up at a new job, it seemed to be not that long before someone passed. We all laughed.

I spoke to Steve in an empty apartment (I was the painter on a maintenance team), and explained what was happening. I told him not to be alarmed, as sometimes these things happened and nothing occurred. This was just a precaution, and if it was another false alarm, we could have a good laugh about it.

Steve was in his mid-forties, and was in good health aside from a sore knee. I asked him if he was a believer and if he was right with God.

He said he was.

I asked him to say The Sinners Prayer with me and he did. We talked for awhile about the other times my precognition had been right, and that I truly hoped this one was a false alarm. That was in November. in January, two months later, I lost that job, but felt my duty was done.

I'd spoken to several people and felt as if my "mission" was complete.

In June of that year, Steve and his wife saw me at Walmart, but i ducked him thinking it was a greedy relative. In September, his wife called me to tell me that he'd passed suddenly after being rushed to the hospital. We had a moment together, and she thanked me for having my talk with him, as it brought him closer to God when he needed him the most.

When Donald Trump was elected in 2016, I wished Steve had been here to see it. He would have worn his "Make America Great Again" hat with pride, and I know he would have shown up at the rallies. Even now, whenever I see those red hats, i can't help but think of Steve.

He was a good man.

And I'm so glad I got that chance to talk with him.

That's just a little slice of how I live my life day by day. None of us know how many trips around the Sun we have left, so it's best to live and have a positive impact on as many people as you can. Touch as many people in a good way, and leave a "Legacy Wake" behind you, that will pay it forward long after you're gone. Now get out there and do "The Work" each and every day! :)

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