With all our planning, we don't know what tomorrow holds for us. On my way back home Friday from a canceled session (the #JMan had a fever) I drove by a car accident on the Merrit Parkway near Route 7. The trusty firefighters were there. It seemed that they were trying to get someone out of the car that front-ended another one. Who knows if the person lived or will walk again. Things happen. Maybe they were texting and did not have their eyes on the road.
With that in mind, I gear up to do something meaningful with my life for others. Does that make me naive? Does that make me a fool? Am I silly to talk like this? Aside from my paid coaching, I mostly work for free for the community. Sometimes it is menial work, like picking up garbage in and around Scalzi skatepark. I pick up cigarette butts, cigar wrappers, used condoms, old plastic bags, beer bottles... stuff like that. Sometimes my work is sitting down with a team of young, idealistic upstart skateboarders who also want to do something bigger than themselves. It seems we are starting a company together called the Scalzi Originals. It is an experiment in servant leadership. Is it possible to put the welfare of the community ahead of our own needs? I hope so. It IS my hope and to help this, I have throttled the gears and thrown my vehicle into overdrive to allow the team to fly with me shoulder to shoulder. I want us to all be equal so that leadership comes from every one and not just the quiet expectation that Bill will be the only leader. That is boring and gets tiring after a while when the job is so big. No. We need unique initiative to show itself from every corner. Hence, our holocratic administrative movement to level the playing field.
Yes, it has taken the team a bit to really get that I want them to be leaders too. You know what happens?... at some point, it sinks in that all oars are needed in the water. Every oar is needed. Every shoulder needs to hit that plow, else it won't work. The dream is as real as we make it, degree by degree, so I am not running, I am sprinting hoping to motivate you before I tire out. I am only human.
This is a race where we pass the baton onto each other. You taking the baton lets your teammate rest a bit before it is there time to run again. There is no time to stay idle and watch the parade pass by. I just think of how far the team has come already. How everyone's investment in the dream continues to grow. It is inspiring and gives that second wind we need when we see others get charged up. It won't be all on one person in this way, but it's all on all of us. We can move in lockstep in this fashion and it matters not the color of your skin, your creed, your walk of life or your view on the beginning of life. What matters is you and me, us, all of us, the whole American quilt making it better for #eachother, because every one of us matters, not just the people who make it to the television.
I tell you it is a lot of fun when hearts and minds are connected. It becomes an adventure when we focus on rising together, rather than seeking our own profit. Seeking your own profit may land you a big home and nice vacations, perhaps a Bentley if you are very successful, but you will find yourself somewhat lonely as you peer from your perch down at the common person who struggles. Life starts to get interesting when our hearts are upon making the outside world better, yet it starts with the decisions we make on the inside.
The Scalzi Originals Skateboarding Co. is a community venture doing just that. We won't be just teaching typical kids and those with special needs to adventure out on a plank with wheels. Our real focus is on developing executive function skills, emotional intelligence, and even that intangible thing called our hearts. We are mentors in formation, not just magicians. We are artists, teachers, coaches, sons and daughters who ARE going to put your kid first. We are movers and shakers. We are renegades for the community, beholden to none but the community we serve. We are not perfect either, yet we are working on that. Our heart and minds are in the right place to make the American quilt better. Bring safety gear.For more, go to http://www.CoachBill.US
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