The Gift in Being Available

Andrew Whitworth was honored as the Walter Payton Man of the Year and Andrew’s speech was perfect. Andrew is humble and service-focused. A model of how to use your celebrity to impact the world in a positive way. Andrew shares a story about a little kid whose life he touched through a Boys & Girls Club event. That little kid, Derrick Barnes, went on to the NFL himself. Much later in life Derrick greets Andrew after an NFL game and shares how much it meant to him to have a NFL player sit and talk with him about life.

One of my favorite tools to use with my groups is a short visualization exercise called “Our Wiser Elder Self.” In this short exercise we visit with a future version of ourselves and explore “what really matters” as shared by our wiser elder self. The visualization can be different each time. Once during the visualization time my elder self handed me a powerful gift.

A book.

And in the book was a series of short essays from the people I had helped throughout my life. Some people shared stories I would have expected to be in the book like family and friends. Some stories are from strangers will be unknown to me. Revisiting the book always gives me chills and reminds me what matters most to me: serving others.  We don’t always get to know the story of those we impact and knowing shouldn’t take away from the opportunity in front of us. Andrew Whitworth says it so well:

“None of us know when the moment is going to present itself. The key is to always be available when it does.”

Your teams need you, your families need you, your communities need you. When you understand your gifts, shut down your self-sabotage and transition from worrying endlessly about yourself and look outward and be available for those around you.

Anthony Poponi is an energetic presenter, a jokester from birth, and self-admitted lover of downtowns as much as wild spaces. He specializes in putting joy in our workplaces and in our communities through workshops and keynotes that leave his audiences buzzing. Being a hard act to follow on stage is always his goal.