Where Do You Put Your Loyalty? Part II
“He believes that when you see someone that you admire, friend or foe, learn from them to be better than them. Don’t envy them!”
https://readmedium.com/where-do-you-put-your-loyalty-part-i-7d3535a2b1c5
The audience gasped, including the young man accusing him of being an informer.
“All I heard was, ‘You envied me in a wheelchair, an associate degree, no mother, or father that cared enough to stick around. I got a scholarship to an Ivy League university that I couldn’t accept,” he bellowed, easing back into his wheelchair, and warning me to stay put.
“They envied him?”
“He was shocked,” Jason said. “And so was I,” pausing. Jason swayed his head left to right as the tears flowed. “They owed a lot of money to a couple of loan sharks and wanted the money he had already donated to build a computer lab at the Community center!”
Jason read the shock on the faces of the entire audience.
“He said, ‘you could have learned from me to be better than me, instead of envying me!’” Jason allowed the tears to flow as he battled with the painful memory that stuck to his brain for more than thirty years. “The first shot crippled me where I was peeking at them from the office.”
“They shot him?” the same young man asked.
“And he kept repeating what he always tells me and the children that he helps at the Center, “Why didn’t you learn from me? My life is a lesson for me and others. That’s why I do what I do to teach others that their disability shouldn’t be a hindrance. . . . ..”
“But they were not disabled!” the same young man called out. “They were his friends! They murdered him for money?”
“And that’s why I gave my loyalty to the truth,” Jason slam dunk.
Tears were reeling in every eye, including that young man.
“I am so sorry for judging you. How could anyone envy a cripple?” he spoke.
“You are going out into a cruel and forgiven world young man, by accusing me without knowledge of the facts, you are telling me and everyone here that you are unprepared. You got to be prepared, for anything and everything!”
If he could disappear, he would, as guilt made him feel small.
“What are your plans for life?” Jason asked, reading the pain and guilt in his eyes.
“Law School,” he said fighting to suppress his emotion.
“If this was a court of law you would be laughed out of the courtroom. You don’t take opinions or hearsay to court Son. You take facts and evidence,” Jason educates.
“I am so sorry,” he apologized again. “How could a friend murder a friend? He was one of the good guys.”
“Every one of you, as you prepare for your future, whatever you go in, don’t carry your opinions with you. Take your knowledge of the facts,” Jason enlightened.
The audience cheered and as silence returned, he continued, “That’s why I named my scholarship after Joshua. He believes that when you see someone that you admire, friend or foe, learn from them to be better than them. Don’t envy them!”
“Now I understand. If they had learned from him, they wouldn’t have a criminal record and they would be wealthy because he was gggooooooddd!” The young man compliments Joshua.
Wiping away tears with his handkerchief from his inside jacket, he encouraged, “Everyone you admire, whether it’s their life, job, personality, how they live, whatever, you will gain more learning from them, that you will get envying them!”
My life is simple and weird. I have many humans that envy me for it. They will get more if they learn from me, to be better than me. Envying me, they get pain, because they can’t get my life even if they take it! No one can live my life. And most won’t do the stuff I do to maintain the life I want.
Learn from others, to be better than them. Don’t envy them!
Happy St. Valentine’s Day everyone. I chose that heart because some hearts will keep you safe no matter what.
If your heart could speak, what would it say?
Be Inspired by DEP’s Latest Inspirations.
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