Tomorrow (May 2) I will celebrate sixty-two years on this earth. When my birthday falls on a Saturday it has special meaning because I was born on a Saturday back in 1964. When I tell people how old I am, I usually get two responses. The first is “Really, I thought you were in your forties.” or “You’re still young.” In response to the first statement I want to ask, “What is sixty supposed to look like?” and the second statement I really don’t know how to respond, I just nod my head and say thank you. Each year on my birthday I reflect on the year before and then I thank God that I have been blessed with another year to spend time with the people I love and care about.
They say that in our lifetime we will influence 10,000 other people. That is amazing to me. It is not that you will be in a room of 10,000 people and you give an amazing speech and they all run out and become successful. It is about the lives you impact and then the lives they impact. It is the “pay it forward” model. Here is the catch to that; sometimes what we pay forward isn’t always positive. I have done good in my life, but I have also made choices that have led me down the wrong road. I believe we can all say that. My hope is that I have done better in this world and that my influence has been positive on those I have interacted with.
There are times you will know that you have had an influence, and there are times you will not. Each day I do my best to have that positive influence based on my words and the actions that match. Tomorrow is not guaranteed to any of us. It is why today is a gift, and our goal is to honor dignity in hopes of bringing something positive to the life of someone else. Every day I wake up is another day to influence the lives of others, because that is what my mother taught me. Everything I do that is good means the legacy of my mother lives on in those who lives I have touched and to my children who I helped raise.
There is no greater gift than watching your children grow and become better than you ever thought. It took me awhile to take the lessons my mother taught me so that I would become a better father than my biological father was to me. I was heading down that path, but I was blessed with being given a new day to change and course correct. My hope is that my children will see that I did my best to be a good father and that I work hard every day to give them the best life that I can and that I would do anything for them like my mother did for me and my brothers.
I don’t know if all of this makes sense. I am just reflecting on life and the blessings I have been given. Tomorrow I will be sixty-two and my one day at a time journey to sixty-three will begin and if I am blessed enough to see May 2, 2027 I hope that I am closer to having a positive impact on all who I come in contact with.
I want to thank all of you who read my weekly blogs. You inspire me to continue writing. Who would have thought that a kid who struggled with reading and writing would use his words to impact the lives of others.
Taking your weakness and making it a strength is how we overcome the storms in our lives. At least that is what I hope.
Charles Redd RN
Dignity Freedom Fighter
Dignity Freedom Fighter 