Your purpose, your mission, your WHY. Doing what you love to do and getting paid for it, making a living at something which feeds your soul – it’s no longer work – it’s inspiring to everyone around you. But even in the center of heaven there can come the perfect storm and a need to step back, take a deep breath and reflect.
The Sunday Series (39): That Guy in the Glass
When you get what you want in your struggle for self
and the world makes you king for a day,
then go to the mirror and look at yourself
and see what that guy has to say.
For it isn’t your mother, brother or friends
whose judgment upon you must pass,
the person whose verdict counts most in your life
is the one staring back in the glass.
You can go down the pathway of years
receiving pats on the back as you pass.
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears,
if you cheated that guy in the glass.
This one is unsolicited. No one asked me to write this Sunday Series, or to share their story. It comes simply from an observation of life and a story I stumbled upon which I believe is worth sharing. It’s only been eight weeks since I featured Jenn and Nestor Aparicio in The Sunday Series, just days after her life-saving bone marrow transplant: (http://markbrodinsky.com/the-sunday-series-32-with-mark-brodinsky/). The journey hasn’t been easy since that day. #JennStrong is somehow holding her own. It’s been an uphill battle most of the way.
But just the other day, on a beautiful Friday afternoon, I was skimming through the Facebook posts and I came across one of the latest from Nestor. He posted a story about his impending “new beginning”, a return to a new chapter in his “talking sports” business, as a writer and on the radio, a business and passion which he has run as both king and jester for more than three decades. That’s the one sentence summary, but you need to go much deeper. I have a difficult job here, because I don’t want to steal Nestor’s thunder. The article, to which I will post a link, is in my perspective… incredible. Nestor speaks from the heart, like it or not. I believe I am in a position to tell you it is very well-written and mean it. And whether you agree with Nestor, it’s not really the point here… the guy can write. His article is engaging, brutally honest, heartfelt, harshly critical and heartwarming…all at the same time. It’s truly a work of art.
After reading it I thought the Guy in the Glass poem fit perfectly at the top of this blog — because it is exactly what Nestor does throughout his article. He’s taken a long look into the glass – he’s come up with answers – and he is refusing to cheat himself, or what he believes. As far as I can tell he never has, he never will. I don’t know Nestor intimately, I know him peripherally through the years, as a peer through his work on the radio, running into him from time to time in public and from the few hours I spent with he and Jenn on their couch two months ago, just one day removed from the biggest moment of Jenn Aparicio’s life. I shared their story and their thoughts on this blog, so maybe I know them a little bit better than I give myself credit.
But let me make one more point, then I need to turn this over to Nestor. I do know how much Nestor loves music, and I’m sure most of you know the song American Pie, or as some refer to it, The Day the Music Died. I heard the song just yesterday, and listening to the lyrics there was a verse I thought fit well to describe the story you are about to read:
A long, long time ago
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
and maybe they’d be happy for a while.
It’s exactly what Nestor Aparicio is trying to do – through his words, his conversations and interviews on the radio, about sports and about life – to make you think and maybe even to be happy for a while. Do yourself a favor. Take the time to read Nestor’s story – it’s about engaging as it gets – it’s inspiring – it’s proof he is trying to do something big – to keep at bay the core of Don McLean’s song and story – the day the music died. It’s the song in Nestor’s soul which calls to him to do what he does for a living and just as importantly to be there for the love of his life – the music in his heart – his wife Jenn, and her seemingly never-ending battle against leukemia. The work and his wife deserve to live on for a long, long time.
Now it’s up to Nestor: http://wnst.net/wnst/on-tuesday-at-6-a-m-my-next-life-begins-at-wnst-net-am-1570/
Until next time, thanks for taking the time.
Mark
Mark Brodinsky, Author, Huffington Post Blogger, (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-brodinsky/), Financial Services
The #1 Amazon Best-Seller: It Takes 2. Surviving Breast Cancer: A Spouse’s Story, (http://www.spouses-story.com/)
For ideas or feedback on the Sunday Series, leave a comment on the blog, or e-mail Mark: markbrodinsky@gmail.com
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