Hi folks, today I want to share some thoughts about a homeless young man that I met the other day in Seattle. Then I want to share some words that I hope will lift you up. This is not about a Kimbo.
I want to start this letter by saying that I don’t ever share these kinds of stories. I tend to keep them to myself because I want to preserve the intent. I hope that sharing this story just enhances the intent, that it builds you up too, even if it’s in a small way.
Over the years I’ve had the chance to talk to a lot of homeless folks. Some of those conversations have been long sit down discussions where I get the chance to hear someone’s story. It almost always comes unfiltered because someone who’s in that place doesn’t have anything to lose by being honest. Some of the people I’ve met are incredibly smart but have found themselves at the side effect of a bad outcome.
I graduated from Harvard in 2022 and I’m pretty stinkin proud of that; It was hard work. I get invited to their alumni events every once and a while and this past week I went to one. It was very fancy and everyone was an Ivy League graduate of some kind. So I come in with my cowboy boots and jeans to this black tie event and start meeting folks.
Everyone’s always very kind at these events. You’d think that they’d be out to tout their accomplishments but it couldn’t be further from the truth. They don’t have anything to prove.
I really just come for the food; I try to load up like a camel who’s preparing for a desert crossing (dessert crossing). But this time everyone has eaten most of it and at the end of the night I’m still pretty hungry. I drive to a burger place and get out of the car. On the way towards the door I meet a young man who asks for a burger. I say no problem and order him some food for the night. It’s really cold out and we have the chance to order and talk inside.
That conversation has had me thinking and today I want to share those thoughts with you. I hope that they build you up.
We talk about his past and what happened, I ask him where his vision is at and how he sees the next chapter unfolding before him. He isn’t in a good place and I ask him if there’s anything that I could say that would lift him up. He says he’s just grateful for the burger.
We head outside and sit on the curb and pray together. I could see his heart and I said some things that I hope will stick with him for the rest of his life. I hope my words were an external confirmation to the man that he knows he truly is.
Within a span of an hour there’s this exposure to a dichotomy of lives between some Yale and Princeton Christmas party to a young man that’s happy to just have a cheeseburger. I don’t think it’s supposed to make sense. But it does fire up a conviction that I need to share with you.
We are so lucky to have a family. We are so lucky to have friends and health and a responsibility to be accountable to. We are so lucky to have a roof to sleep under where our minds don’t have to hold a place for the constancy of threat.
The meal that’s right in front of us is a gift, and gratitude for the little things is what builds the foundation of gratitude for the greater things.
I don’t know what the answer to homelessness is, but I’ve had the chance to see into its inner workings and hierarchies and traps. I can’t make a difference in solving it at all. But there is one thing that I can do, there is one thing that you can do. When a young man asks for a burger, you say yes. When a young lady needs a coat then give her yours. When you have the chance to share a word of encouragement as a peer, not a superior, you do it. Because you never know how far the courage of your actions will travel. You never know how far the conviction of your words will reach into the heart of someone else. You share them because the problem is giant oak tree that was planted like a seed a long time ago. The solution is a giant oak tree that is planted by the seed of your courage to extend your heart to another right now.
And you’ll never see if the seed grew. You shake their hand or give a hug and go on with your life. You walk to your next task of the day. You might have made a difference in their life; but you can know for sure that they’ll have made a difference in yours.
You are worth it and you’re going to make it. You do have courage, you do know how to persevere. You’ve got something within you that’s made to be seen. You’re an amazing person and I’m grateful for the chance to share this letter with you. See you next time,
-M