Pep Talk: "It's a Home Run"

There are moments in life when you have to go for it. Throw caution to the wind and jump. Run to daylight. Call it what you want, but there are those moments in life when we’re called. The question becomes, will we answer?

What follows is an example, I hope, saying, “Heck ya!”

All this came crashing into cranium after hanging up the phone from a conversation with Sharon Cooper of the Hospice of Saint John. I had just dropped precious princess for her final driver instruction tuneup in preparation for an approaching 16th birthday. The much-desired freedom from parents. We can all relate, right?

Anyway, back to a conversation, with Cooper, about a place with a spirt to adore and my pending interview to volunteer at a community founded back in 1977. Father Paul von Lobkowitz is a guy after my heart. He allowed courage and wonderment to win in creating the hospice with a mission to ensure the dying were treated with dignity and compassion. Everybody deserves to be treated with dignity and compassion, don’t they?

The second oldest free-standing hospice in the United States, the Hospice of Saint John has built a reputation of unparalleled excellence in skilled, compassionate care, providing service regardless of age, disability, gender, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation or the ability to pay for care. Honorable indeed.

I’m just a simple dude from Missouri and had never heard of Father Paul von Lobkowitz and went to the cyberworld and learned something very cool about a man from England who come to Colorado and said, “Hey, when people are in the final moments of life we must care for them.”

I wanna play on the team with that guy, thus the volunteering. My goodness, am I blessed. I anticipate the stories will be fascinating with lots of joy, regret and a bunch in between. Its founder had a philosophy, least my opinion, to admire. Here’s a bit of it from a Google search that unearthed information about The Holy Orthodox Church Bishop who also founded Orden von Lobkowitz in 2002. Its mission also warms my marrow. I hope it has a similar effect on you. Here it is:

“Despite the religious background of our founding father, the Order exists to fill the need for an inclusive secular Order that promotes and sustains charitable works that will help advance culture and society. The OvL is descended from an ancient Christian tradition but has a very modern purpose.”

I’ve been called a lot of things in life, smart sometimes, but it sure does make sense, at least to me, to be connected with groups promoting charitable works helping advance culture and society, In the sports talk radio world, the reasonable and sane Odd Couple banter, when discussing such a winning proposition, would be shouting to the rooftops, “That’s a home run!”

Let’s try like heck this week to hit home runs when it comes to getting involved with a group promoting charitable works helping advance culture and society. They are everywhere. Service clubs like Kiwanis, chambers of commerce like Glendale, Colorado, wonderful final resting spots for the dying like Hospice of Saint John. Look around folks, there are plenty of opportunities to get involved with groups - Mile High City and beyond - fostering goodwill and trying like heck to advance culture and society.

But it takes time and effort. Simple, not easy.

No, that darn thing called life comes a calling too. Yea, we hear the call for our lives but then the unexpected and unwanted shows up demanding attention. It sucks. That’s where we must somehow, someway find the strength to persevere. Remember, you’re not alone and connect with folks sharing similar experiences and encourage one another to turn lemons, heck with lemonade, into sweet and savory margaritas. Sorry, couldn’t resist. 

Back to the point. Most of us have good intentions, like contributing to efforts promoting the advancement of goodwill, culture and society but stuff happens that throws us off track. Keep doing it anyway, ride the storm out when physically able.

As courtesy to Eric Goodman, who, like many, wonders where in the heck I’m coming from sometimes, I offer a sports twist to the Pep Talk weekly message so it’s appropriate for discussion on our radio show. Thanks to a reminder from a guy who started a hospice intent on caring for all in their dying days, I would say to my partner, “Teams consistently exuding compassion and dignity toward its members usually are successful.” Ironically, my opinion, it’s a winning strategy in just about every endeavor imagined - home, work and elsewhere.

It’s a home run. Let’s try and slug a few this week!