I have to admit to being impatient with the some aggravating folks in my life. They probably feel the same way about me. So I asked someone who is partially paralyzed from a stroke and can no longer speak to help me with that because somehow he manages to be a joy to everyone who knows him when he could have been a major pain in the ass.
"So when you see these folks...who are drivin’ you crazy, don’t buy in, just keep a hand out because you never know
when someone might be touched by something you do."
Ann: Hello, Randy, are you there? Would you be kind enough to give me the benefit of your wisdom?
Randy: Well, Annie, I don’t know that I have much wisdom on that subject, but I do know what it is be knocked down and start comparing myself to everybody else and deciding that I am worse off than any of them. Then the spiral starts down, and nobody likes you cause you start to hate yourself.
Jesus has been my answer. Hard to feel sorry for yourself when you look at his life. And I feel him with me, laughing, still enjoying life even though he’s on the other side. You can tell when folks have that connection, and it don’t have to be just Jesus though that’s been my way. Some real holy people from other faiths are living the life of God even though I might not understand how that works for them.
You’re feelin’ bad about yourself because you don't have much patience with folks bitchin' and moaning - and you done your share, ain't ya? But you been raised right, girl. Your folks knew that bad things happen and not just to other people. But what you might not know is that, once you been down, I mean real down, you can understand if folks cain’t pull themselves out of those really deep holes. Sometimes you can and sometimes you cain't.
I was lucky, Jesus was the guiding force, and lots of people around me would not, just would not, give up on me even though there was every reason to do so. They saw something in me that was worth savin’, that could maybe be of use to somebody else.
And, thanks to them, I got to where I could see it too - though it’s still kinda hard to believe that people I don’t know can have their lives touched and even changed by my music and, some even said, by my life. Thank God for my wife. Without her I don’t know if Jesus would have been able to pull it off.
So when you see these folks so hungry and desperate whose lives don’t have the blessings to help them overcome just right then and who are drivin’ you crazy, don’t buy in, just keep a hand out because you never know when someone might be touched by something you do. Any then maybe you can take your own hand and step away from that aggravation with yourself. And don’t be surprised if those folks become blessings in your life. Anyways, that how it seemed to work for me.
Ann: Thank you, you are a gift.
Randy: You’re right nice to say so.