At my party on Sunday you’d think that the crowd was the luckiest of the lucky. There were people there that had made millions of dollars and judging from the cars in my driveway there was quite a bit of wealth that walked through my door. The crowd looked happy if you just looked at it superficially.
But, if that’s all you saw you might have missed these stories. I almost did too.
As I was meeting my friends that I’d invited I’d ask “how have things been going lately?”
It’s usually a good way for partiers to tell me about how their careers have been going, or maybe bring up something personal like they have a baby on the way, etc. Usual small talk.
But one guest answered: “well, I couldn’t afford rent on my home, got kicked out, and have been living in homeless shelters for several months.” He actually started out by saying “things have been getting better” because he found a place to stay outside of the shelter world. He has a wife and cute daughter.
I suddenly felt very small as I looked over at my $4,000 HDTV.
A few minutes later some food was spilled and I really didn’t care. Thanks to that conversation I had been reminded just how lucky I was.
You might have missed another couple who was sitting in my family room with their son. He has Downs’ Syndrome. He’s 21. They’ve never been able to communicate with him. If you just met the couple I’m talking about you’d think they have the most perfect lives. They own a huge home near Bill Gates. The guy has a marvelous career (is at the top of his field in Seattle). They seem to have it all.
Yet they’d trade it all to be able to talk with their son.
Are you going through a private hell you aren’t sharing with other people? In America today is Independence Day. Why don’t you tell someone your hell and we’ll see if we can help?