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Chase Rose continued
So often we cut ourselves short with
what we can achieve, and its no one’s fault
but ourselves. Getting to where we want to
be also depends on one word. Focus.
This winter I was traveling through Chicago
O’Hare Airport, which seemed to be
my second home all year. I had several hours
before my next flight so I was just killing time
meandering through the shops, reading Newsweek
and watching planes go in and out.
I looked down the F concourse and I saw
this man making his way down the hallway.
He looked a bit like a slow motion pinball
machine. I could see he was using a cane
to check his position as he floated from one
side of the hallway paying an unintentional
visit to Starbucks then over to the other
side and I watched him “hip check” a drinking
fountain. I remember thinking to myself
how impossible it seemed for anyone who
was blind to even think about trying to get
through the one of busiest airports in the
country by themselves!
I was standing about 10 feet from this
man when I overheard him ask a lady how to
get to the C gates. She was in a hurry and just
shot something off like it’s down and to the
left, basically no help to this guy at all. I had
plenty of time to help him out, so I walked
over and said, “Sir are you headed to the C
gates? I am going there too.” He got a smile
on his face and stretched his hand out to say,
“Thanks man, I am Matt.” We started talking
as we began our trip from the F gates to the
C gates. Right as we started walking I realized
to myself that the C gates are the furthest
possible distance in O’Hare to where we currently
were. This trip included a walk up the
F hallway, through the skywalk to the B gates
all the way down the B gates and down a tunnel
that went under a taxiway to get to the C
concourse then we still would have to find his
gate. This was going to be a trek.
At first I had no idea how tough this
really would be. The entire time Matt was
literally like a news reporter trying to get to
know me. He asked, “Where are you from?”
“Where you headed to?” “Are you younger,
in school, or older, you got a deep voice. I
can’t tell?” Now normally I would appreciate
the conversation but today I was sweating
bullets. I had no idea how hard this really
was and I was convinced I was going to run
Matt right into something or someone and
it would be my fault. I was trying to lead
Matt around the furious pace of Chicago
O’ Hare, we were holding up people behind
us and trying to avoid the cell phone zombies
who were not paying the slightest bit
of attention coming at us. The whole trip
I saw people giving us dirty looks, rolling
their eyes as they moved around us. And
then, the moment that I thought for sure
we were going to be calling an ambulance:
Matt takes two steps or so out into the
middle of the hallway and at the same time
this golf cart, which if you have flown before
you have probably seen them, typically
they carry elderly people that have a tough
time getting around, and at the exact same
moment Matt stepped out into the hallway
the gal driving the cart turned around to
look at her load and she was headed right
for us! I didn’t want to yell because I knew
that would scare Matt so I started swinging
my arms and she gets this look on her face
as she slams on the breaks and gets the cart
stopped about two feet before Matt. As the
oxygen tanks of the elders clinked together
we swiftly stepped around them. On the
way by the gal driving has it in her to look
over at me and says Boy!
We kept going down the escalators,
which was tough, and up the other side.
By the time we got to the C gates we had a
pretty good system down. I would say Left
45, Right 90; we were getting better at it but
I was still worked up and tired of trying to
keep him on the right track. When we finally
got to his gate I had had enough. I was done;
he of course thanked me and we said goodbye.
As I walked away I thought about the
last 30 minutes or so, and my experience
compared to Matt’s. Matt literally had two
things on his mind the entire time, getting
to his gate, and talking to me. He was totally
calm the whole time. Not only calm, but
happy! He was just loving life! Happy that I
helped him out and enjoying the conversation
along the way. But me on the other
hand, I was sweating bullets. I was trying to
get him through the gauntlet while people
were looking at me all worked up cause they
had to take a few steps around him. I was
desperately trying to find a less crowded
path but that was holding up people behind
us. By the time I got Matt to his gate I had
just about had it.
Now surely Matt’s disability is not something
any of us envy, but I started to think
to myself how incredible it really would be
if we could all just focus like Matt did, only
focus on what we want to accomplish and
nothing else. Matt enjoyed that experience
because he couldn’t see anyone rolling their
eyes or that we were holding people up. He
couldn’t see it, all he was focused on was
getting to his gate and talking to me. The
truth is, whether we want to admit it or not,
we all have allowed people and circumstances
to affect not only our attitudes, but
also our focus. Maybe it’s that day when
you look at your alarm with one eye open,
awe! 20 minutes late! So your run to the
bathroom, and dang your hair looks terrible.
Then hop in your car and you hit every red
light on the way to school, you blare in the
classroom late, your teacher rolls their eyes
and your day is off to a terrible start.
What usually happens? Well, more
times than not is it remains a bad day, at
least for a while and the only reason is attitude.
Or maybe its people that affect how
you feel, a comment about your clothes,
your car, who you hang out with, maybe
you caught the short end of the stick in a
joke the list goes on and on. But here’s an
idea….. What if we just didn’t care? Who
cares? It drives me completely plum insane
how much we allow people and situations to
affect us so much when we have no control
over them! Just focus. Focus in just like Matt
did on what you want to focus on what you
want to accomplish, don’t allow people or
situations to effect how you act. Focus and
see what drives you.
Life’s a funny thing. We have this one
snapshot in time of 100 years maybe less to
do something magnificent, to accomplish,
what we want to accomplish. to get where
we want to be. I believe that every person in
this arena will get to where they want to be,
I do. Use your past; let it drive you and focus
in each and every day. You won’t just find
yourself where you want to be but where
you need to be.
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