We’ve all been touched or inspired by someone or something in our lives. At The Rich Existence, we want to share those inspiring stories with the world. Whether it was words of advice from a grandmother, or a total stranger reaching out when you were in need, or visiting an awe inspiring place; we want to hear your thoughts on how these things have made, or helped to make, your existence richer. So share with us a paragraph or more about you and your story.
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Chad and Erin
Copyright 2009 TheRichExistence.com
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08.19.2009
Having a chronic illness, sometimes it’s hard to recognize the richness in my life. That’s when it’s important to notice the small things that make up the goodness. When I’ve been really sick or had to be hospitalized, my family has been right there for me. The time the stands out in my mind more than anything was when I was in the ICU relying on a ventilator to breathe. My parents and husband took turns staying in my room each night. They were ever present and praying for me. Each time I think about that time, I can hardly hold back my emotions because I realize how blessed I am to have people who care so much about me and are there when I need them.
When my husband and I had our first two children, we were, like many young couples, pinching pennies. One particular month we didn’t know how we would pay all of the bills, put gas in our car, and still have enough to buy food for our family.
One night we were filling our little Kia up with gas. Chad was putting the gas in the car and I was waiting in the car with the kids. A rugged looking man in his early twenties was walking down the street. He came walking towards Chad. I thought for sure he was going to ask Chad for money or for a ride somewhere. Chad and the man talked for a few minutes while Chad finished filling the car with gas.
When Chad got back in the car he handed me a twenty dollar bill.
“What is this?” I asked.
Chad told me the man had said
“You look like you need this. Go buy you and your family some food.”
This man looked as though he had much less than we did. Yet he was still willing to give to help us. I am grateful for this man, not only for the food he provided us with, but also the lesson that he taught me. We all need charity no matter what we look like. And we can all give charity in someway no matter how down we are in our own lives.
Some thirty eight years ago I lived on our family farm. The place behind where my home now is was a beautiful hillside pasture. We had to irrigate often to keep it green. One really hot summer day I was sitting on the edge of the ditchbank with my dad, I remember the sound of the cool water running down the hill and the smell of the wet grass. Dad had his arm on my shoulder when he said something that has stayed with me all my life.
He said “I love you son but you won’t know what its like til you have a one of your own”. I have thought about that so many times in my life as I grew up got married and had children of my own. I started to know a little about what he meant. My dad passed away when I was twenty four and I always felt so cheated that I didn’t get to have more time with him, to go to him when I needed him or just hang out like we did when I was a kid. Being one of the youngest I didn’t get to do some of the things the older kids did. Dad was really big on sports, he coached my older brothers baseball teams and was a dad to a whole generation of little leaguers in Lehi Utah, the town where we grew up. Those same little league kids are all grown up now with grandkids of there own. To this day and for many years those kids have come up to me and said “your Chub’s kid, (that was my dad’s nickname) I loved your dad he was my coach. A few weeks ago I sat in church and looked over at a man who was a Bishop, a dad, a grandpa and one of my dads baseball kids. Strangely as I looked over at him I saw a little kid in a red baseball cap crouched over leaning forward looking out onto a ballfield, I saw the love and influence that my dad had on those kids, I saw how it changed their lives. I wasn’t cheated at all, the Lord somehow knew that my dad wouldn’t be around for me when I got older so He put these kids, these men, here to guide and help me, to let me know that my dad does still care about me even when he can’t be with me.
In a greater sense I see, that the Lord is saying “I love You son, but you won’t know what its like til you have one of your own”.
In doing so He gave us our lives our families and a small glimpse of His great love for us.
A rich existence comes to those who give without thought. Who look to bless, not to be blessed. Those that bless someone, bless so many people in there lives without knowing it. When one helps another, those that see this act of kindness ,feel the love shared as much as the intended recipient of the act. The feeling that you get in the pit of your stomach when you help another person is a blessing to the giver. When you help someone at school after they have drop there binder on the floor, when you decide to be a friend, when you decide to go and act rather than watch from the side. You maybe be blessing these other people but in reality you are blessed just as much as them. The joy you feel when you give without expecting anything in return gives makes any service worth while hundred times over. The love shown when you help others, the love developed when one is treated kindly, and the love created in all when blessings are given is the true meaning of a Rich Existence.
-Will
Houston, TX
Somthing that has really made a difference in my life is cross country. The first time I decided that to try it wasn’t really my decision it was my mothers, but I had shown interest in running. So with a lot of hesitation, I wasn’t that great at sports even though i played them all the time, I showed up for the school try outs. I was sure to be the slowest girl there and what was i thinking i couldn’t make this team! But i did it and what do u know, there aren’t enough people who like running so there was no way i wouldn’t make the team. I found that I actually LOVED cross country!Soon even though I wasn’t the best to start with, and I certainly will never be the best in the world I still steadily got better and, I really got so much satisfaction from running I felt that I was really good at something that my friends seemed to hate. I still don’t get how they couldn’t like running and, I’ve kept doing cross country for three years and, am still running. That year back in 7th grade I tried out for every sport the school had to offer and, can you guess how many teams I got on… two, cross country and, then later on track, but I didn’t mater I found, thanks to my mom, something that I would enjoy and could do my whole life. Today the best part of school and, my favorite activity is running it makes my life better and, its awesome cuz u find all these people that like what you do, and you make a lot of friends.The start of a new cross country season and I’m so excited it makes going to a new school so much easier, I have friends before the semester even starts, and later today I’m looking forward to cc practice it will forever be a wonderful part of my life.
hey it is garrett um what really made my life worth it it is my friends. also there is this girl that thinks she doesn’t deserve me but i told her that i care about her and she realizes that she does deserve me and we should both like each other. my life is also awesome because whenever i am down i always have someone to talk to no matter what it is my friends are always there and help
I’ve had some amazing examples in my life. I wish I could name them all, because each person has helped shape my life. Whether it was a good or bad example, I learned from these people what I should or shouldn’t do in my life to help make the road a little easier.
My mom and dad have to be some of the best examples to me. They would argue that they aren’t the best examples, but that’s not true. They lived and made mistakes, but they also made great choices too. They always had a desire to do better and improve their lives and I saw this desire and it helped me to want to do the same. I believe they had this desire because they wanted to be happy and help others, especially their children, be happy.
I believe Mom and Dad were successful. I love life and I want to live a long time, with a desire that I can become better and better. I’m happy and I believe in myself. I’m not always content, but I am always happy to be alive. I know this because I constantly have that hope to live and experience things.
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After my parents divorced, Mom had to go to work. She could have sold the house and let our worlds’ fall apart, but she didn’t. She worked. Eventually, she remembered that she was good at doing things, at being creative. As her confidence grew, so did her desire to be different and stand out and excel.
Mom worked for Lehi Junior High School, for several years after the divorce, making very little. But, she did a great job and made her job fun and helped enrich a lot of students’ lives by giving them opportunities to be seen and be involved in good activities. When Mom started realizing that she was successful at her job, her confidence grew and it gave her the “guts,” so to speak, to spread her wings and try new things.
Mom always had impressive experiences with work. People enjoy her personality and work ethic. She’s been able to have some amazing jobs that most people don’t get without a degree. This has inspired me without question.
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Dad always works hard. He did Drywall for a very long time and, though it wasn’t his dream, he did an amazing job. People would seek out Dad’s work because of his ability to tape, texture, hide seams, etc…
Several years ago, Dad was looking for land to build himself a home in Park City, Utah. The fact that Dad was looking for that particular property meant that he was doing very well at work. He had a lot of nice toys, like a boat, motorcycles, a nice truck, and more. We would go skiing and do a lot of fun activities with Dad. It was around this time that Dad broke his neck.
While riding mountain bikes with my younger brother and sister, he rode off a cement platform in the park, didn’t pull up hard enough, and flew over the handle bars breaking his neck. It was a very tough experience for all of us and left Dad paralyzed from the chest down and in a wheelchair.
From the time of his accident, Dad was determined not to give up, and still had the desire to experience life and be there for his children. He went back to school and was able to get his Master’s in Public Administration. Dad even stayed in school to get his law degree from the University of Utah and passed the Bar Exam in San Diego, where he now lives independent of full time nurses or help. Dad’s example has been huge for me.
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I’ve been fortunate to be able to witness such greatness in my life. Now, I get to experience greatness with my beautiful wife, Erin. She is such an amazing example to me and I’m glad to be with her. She helps me much more than she knows.
I know Heavenly Father loves me because he’s given me opportunities to observe the world around me and choose what I will to be my example for the better. My life is rich because of my family and because of people around me that influence me every day. I know that every example can be a good example by the way I choose to let it affect me. Thank you everyone who has been a part of my life. Each one of you has helped shape me into who I am by your love and examples.
On my way home, a young lady standing near a bus stop, who was a stranger to me, asked if I could help her. She said she’d been praying for help, and didn’t know if I could help, but that she felt impressed to stop me.
She explained that she was waiting for the bus that she needed to take her to the airport, to catch her scheduled flight to London. But she had just realized that she didn’t have any Korean money (won) to pay for the bus fare.
She said all she had was a 5 pound note (British money), and wondered if I would give her 10,000 won in exchange for that note, so she could pay the bus fare.
I immediately exchanged the money without question (knowing that buses don’t wait), and gave her an extra 5,000 won for good measure, just as the bus she needed to ride stopped. She quickly thanked me, and as she boarded I called out, “Lord bless you and be safe.” She smiled and was gone.
It was a testimony to me, again, that the Lord is aware of each of us, personally. He had heard and had answered her prayer.
A Great Influence
For me, the first day of high school wasn’t a reunion of old junior high friends. It was a new start at a new high school. I had recently moved into the area because my mom had purchased a new home. I remember going into the school and not seeing one familiar face. I felt like everyone knew each other and I was the outsider. One class that comes to mind from the first week is my T.V. Video Production class, I was especially excited about going to this class. I had always enjoyed making videos and was excited to be taught new skills and use the expensive gear the school had.
A Mr. Dustin Topham taught the class. Dustin was a very energetic out going teacher. On the first day Dustin showed us a few videos that he had made to give us some inspiration and to get us thinking about what we would like to do in his class. Dustin’s videos were amazing. He obviously had some true talent. So I was very excited to see what I could learn from him. Dustin was a teacher and a small business owner. His business was mostly a wedding video business, but they also covered other events. His business was very successful for a part time business run by a high school teacher. Dustin was a really great guy who had found how to do everything he loves. He found that by teaching he could help teenagers and he could also have his business where he could do his dream job of filming for a living. He had found how he could be truly happy.
I came to be really good friends with Dustin. Dustin always made sure that I was included and helped me make some really great friends in the class, many of which I am still great friends with. Towards the end of the year I started signing up for my next classes. One class I knew I was going to take was Dustin’s Advanced Video Production class. He had two separate advanced classes. When I went into the counselor’s to sign up for the classes, I asked to be put in both advanced classes for my junior year. The counselor said he would have to confirm with Dustin if this was okay. He made the call to Dustin while I was in the room. I remember what the counselor said he asked “would it be okay if Michael Larsen attended your advanced classes.” When the counselor hung up the phone he quoted Dustin, “Of course he can, Michael is one of my best students”. This made me feel awesome. It was great to have a teacher that I looked up to so much give me praise and recognition. I was very excited to start my next year!
When I started going to the video production class I started going to a new advanced production class called Live Production. Dustin would send a few students to film live school events, assemblies, football games, and talent shows. When I went to all of theses events to film I started to become friends with Zac and Mitchell who where also in the live production class. They both had similar interests in video production as me. We spent a lot of time together traveling to all of the football games and other school events to film for the class. We became really good friends that hung out together pretty much all the time. Dustin was also almost always there having fun filming with us and being a good friend and teacher and teaching us skills along the way. During this time I looked at my teacher as less of a teacher and more of a friend. He was the reason that I had met such great friends and I was having such a awesome time.
As I came to be good friends with my new video production friends I started to get a lot more involved in school activities and started to make a lot of friends. I couldn’t get enough. I really wanted to spend as much time at the school as I could. I started to meet all kinds of different friends and started to realize how much fun high school could be if you got involved. I started to have so much more fun and really started to enjoy high school, I didn’t want it to end. But, graduation came faster than I ever thought it would. The time inevitably came and me and my newly found friends and me graduated.
My video production teacher Dustin really made the difference for my high school experience. Those years will help shape the rest of my life. Dustin helped me find a love for film. He also taught me to hold my friendships close. Today making videos is what I want to do for a career. The extra effort he put into being a good teacher and friend has changed the path that I will take in my life. I know a good teacher can make all of the difference in a student’s life. I am excited to start my career and I am so thankful for having had such a great influence.