WALKING ROUTE 66
How To Make An Impact When You Don’t Even Know
Are you living an impactful life?
Four years ago, I walked Route 66 — from Chicago to Santa Monica and blogged about it daily. Now, I am reflecting on the lessons learned along the way.
(Read from the start) The saga continues…
After reclaiming my stroller, as I was reorganizing the contents, a little boy came and asked if I’d be making balloons this morning. How could I say no? Soon enough, a line was forming. There was a 7 AM deadline to vacate the place, so I was able to escape. 😊
Sapulpa, Oklahoma, is about 17 miles from downtown Tulsa, along Route 66. I had been averaging about three miles an hour, so I figured it would take me 6 to 7 hours to get there, including rest, social breaks, and photo opportunities.
I was able to refill my water bottles at a couple of businesses along the way. People were amicable all along. At about midway point, a car going the opposite direction pulled over, and a lady went to the trunk and got out a package. They were heading to Tulsa to hand out survival packs to homeless people and thought that I could use one.
It’s a beautiful world because there are always people looking out for those less fortunate than themselves. Yes, there are many greedy people in this world, but m experience has been that the good-hearted people outnumber them by manifold.
I arrived in Sapulpa around 1:30 and found a pizza restaurant called Mazzio’s. I was familiar with the brand from my nomadic travels. They offer a good lunch buffet that includes a salad bar and a wide variety of pizzas. Unfortunately, all of them consisted of some form of pig meat, which I do not eat. They were kind enough to make me a pizza of my choice.
As I was paying for my food, the lady asked if I would like to fill out the raffle. A local civic organization was holding a fundraiser later and would be giving away prizes from local businesses. Mazzio’s was donating a percentage of sales that day toward the fundraiser.
I decided that if I won anything, I would pay it forward to the Anytime Fitness, where I planned on spending the night. I hardly ever win raffles, and it didn’t cost me anything anyway.
I used the restaurant as my office for the day. I charged all my electronics, updated my blog on Patreon, and charted out my route to Oklahoma city to make sure that I can catch the bus back to Houston, where I had a speaking engagement in a couple of weeks, plus my son’s birthday was coming up, too.
When the families started arriving around 4 PM to support the fundraiser, I made balloons for their children, shared my fliers, socialized, and made plenty of tips. Then, I received a phone call to let me know that I had won two free pizzas.
How does it get any better than this?
As I think back and ponder.
What I like the best about these revisits to my walk from four years ago is that I can see the impact it had on me, and some of the things I missed to notice then that become so glaringly clear in hindsight.
Also, the comments and feedback that I receive from people who are reading it now for the first time make me realize that I wasn’t quite able to see the impact I was having on the people at the time. I touched people on the road and those following along on FB and Patreon, but I was too engrossed in the daily grind of getting to the next stop to notice.
It is humbling, and I feel fortunate and grateful for having had this opportunity to travel and make a difference then, and again now, with these revisits. I feel more of a responsibility now to write the book that so many people have asked me.
One of my intentions in doing these daily revisits was to find an angle other than the daily narration, which I already had done.
When you put yourself out in the service of others, and we all are — intentionally or unintentionally — you gain just as much, if not more, from it than you are giving.
It has been a daily reminder, to me, that every one of us matters in the bigger scheme of things whether we realize it or not, so let me take this opportunity to remind you that yes, you matter.
Stay blessed and be happy, my friends.
Day 70: Smooth Sailing, er.. Walking (Original blog post).
Just for fun.
I invite you to tag along if you’re up to it. I am mentioning a few friends who may be interested in it. If you are tagged but don’t want to read my stories daily, let me know in the comments, and I will remove your name moving forward. If you are reading this and aren’t included in the list below, but you’d like to come along, let me know so that I can add you.
Michele Amy Trista Henery Timothy Tim P.G. Sherry Saloni Indra B. A. Linda Sharon Tree Britni Desiree Elisabeth Simona Kristin Helen Julia Chris Paul Rosennab Tom Truenorth Agnes Aurora LauraRaduenz Catherine Joe Stuart Gurpreet BFoundAPen Margie Bob NaNa’sworld Wolfie Rebecca Susannah
As always, thank you for reading and responding.
Here are some of my other stories:
Rasheed Hooda is a published author who has contributed to many of Medium’s top Publications; The Startup, The Ascent, P.S. I Love You, Rogues’ Gallery, and ILLUMINATION, to name a few. He is also a Top Writer for several topics. If you like his work, buy him a cup of coffee, he drinks a lot of it.