Becoming

I struck up a brief conversation after my workout at the YMCA the other day.

I was busy fixing my tie and clasping my cufflinks when an older gentleman down the way in the locker room asked me what I was getting all dressed up for.

“Work.” I said.

“What do you do for a living?” he asked.

Depending on my mood, I have several answers to this question.  Being somewhat in a hurry, I pulled out my short answer.

“I’m a financial advisor.”

Over the next few moments, he made me aware that he recently retired and is now trying to figure out ‘who he is’ now that his career as a small business owner is over.

I let his question linger in the air for a few moments before I posed the following question as I grabbed my gym bag and began to head for the door.

“That’s who you were… Might it be more useful to consider who you can become?”

The question jarred him.  His eyes gave away his inward thoughts.  Almost as if to say that he thought the his best years were behind him, not ahead.

I could tell he wanted to engage me more, but his feeling of unease prevented his words from forming.  I told him where I worked, handed him a business card, and asked him to give me a call if he wanted to continue the conversation.

He never did.  I haven’t run into him again.  I often wonder if I should’ve done more.  But I can’t take the action for him, he has to want it.  He has to want a bigger future.  He has to want becoming more tomorrow than he is today.

We all do.

Let’s not only focus on who we are today, but who we can become tomorrow.

Let us not forsake helping others along their journey.  May we seek to always make our future bigger than our past.  May we adhere to an unfaltering belief that the Best Is Ahead… Always.

And may we live on purpose today.