Mr Langley

A few Saturdays ago I was lucky enough to spend a little time with Mr Langley in his home. I was able to meet this inspiring man through 'Repair Core.' A special group formed through the San Diego Habitat for Humanity that goes into Vets homes and does necessary home repair work that they are physically and monetarily unable to do. The repair I was tasked to for the day was dry-walling the walls of the home's recently gutted bathroom. This may sound crazy, but there is something about the constant flow of spreading and removing the creamy drywall mud from the barren wall as it begins to cover and harden the once tainted area...that is truly therapeutic. As much of a peaceful environment as I am describing this to be- there was our project leader- a little (excuse my french) ball buster who was constantly ragging on me and the other 3 female volunteers for having zero skills on the craftsmanship level. With each tile that my female companions laid in the newly gutted shower in the same bathroom as I, Dale, our project manage (check out his pic below), secretly became more and more proud of us.



Mainly that's because he realized the girls were going to start ganging up on him and his sarcasm. Oddly enough, after spending 6 hours together in the bare, windowless, tiny bathroom- we all somehow bonded. Sharing unique personal stories about one another's lives, we began to have a better understanding of each other, and for me, a better understanding of how humans work. Why they do what they do- the common trend with this group was doing things out of love. Which brings me to Mr Langly- the homeowner.  A Navy Vet, he was a Seabee on the 1st ship to make it down one of Australia's largest canals. The Seabees are the US Navy construction forces who open and maintain bases that allow combat soldiers to be successfully housed and fed during wars. Mr Langley was active duty for a few years and then in the reserves for the remainder of his 30 years in the Navy. He spent most of his adult career working for the San Diego electric company, and even spent a brief stint of his career in highway patrol. Married once, then divorced, he found himself living along in a home that need a lot of garden/lawn maintenance but little money or time to do it. His new neighbors, who had just moved to San Diego, were looking for work and luckily hooked up with Mr Langley. 1 day, the neighbor's daughter came over, asking if she could work on Mr Langley's garden in the front yard. He explained to the woman that he had no more money to pay for the maintenance, and she offered to do it for free. Days later, the woman came back, with her cousin, asking if she could work for free on Mr Langley's rose in the front yard. He of course obliged and the roses began looking beautiful in his front yard. Curious, Mr Langley went out front one day to meet this mysterious woman that had so tenderly cared for his beautiful roses...and that was it. The 2 started dating and were married shortly thereafter. Now, with children (3 of which still in live in their home with them) they were a big happy family. Or so it appeared. Mr Langley shared the many struggles he and his family had faced- from serious health issues to finance and housing for their children, now grandchildren, and mother from Mexico (who was at least 95 and spoke very little English)- they had been through it all. But somehow, seemed to have it all. Mr Langley continued to explain how grateful he was for everything he had in his life. To an outsider, it might seem like he had very little, or just a ton of strife. But in fact, this man had everything- because he was grateful for the one thing he believed God had given him. And that was just the life he had with his beautiful life. To see an elderly man portray such an attitude of grace and presence was truly inspiring to me. As I slipped away from our conversation to finish my wall in the bathroom, I continued to place each stroke of drywall with love and sincere appreciation. I knew that even this small task could effect the strength and hold of the bathroom walls. Those walls, were in Mr Langley's home- something he was so grateful for. And I didn't want to let him down. I knew this bathroom would serve his family in some context for years to come- and even this small thing, was something that he was so grateful for- so I had to make sure they were perfect :) With all of this said, drywalling (though an extremely useful skill) was not the greatest thing I learned stepping away from the day. It was a lesson in gratitude. It was how someone who on the surface seems to have nothing, had it all. Because of his attitude of grace, Mr Langley was able to share his life in such a compassionate way with me that I was truly moved. I am so blessed to have had this experience and plan to stay in contact with this amazing man :)
xoxo AA

Spreading the Love

Excellence

Hey there world- it has been a while and I hope you've been well. In the past few weeks I have been exposed to and gone through what I consider to be some pretty awesome life challenges both with others and on my own. Since that time, I have let all of my thoughts boil and of course wanted to share.



Through each challenge I have seen some very similar main themes. Firstly, when presented with a challenge, we are most likely going to have to push ourselves into a zone where we feel least comfortable. For some reason, in our culture, giving up our comfort seems to be one of the least desirable things of all. Oddly enough, it is during that moment of discomfort, that horrible feeling where we just want to throw the towel in and quit- where all the work is done. Once we experience the discomfort and somehow manage to pull ourselves through it, we have grown. Looking back at it, it doesn't seem all that awful and we are confident that a new challenge won't seem as daunting. All of the work has now been done because we forced ourselves through it. Another common theme I have noticed with each challenge is passion and heart. The minute we don't have the heart or passion for something, the farther and farther we are from attaining any sort of goals. But, when we drive through the challenge with a passionate heart for what we are doing, there is no choice but to succeed- and all other options and unfathomable. Attitude was another common theme I've noticed in each of the challenges I experienced. Coming from an attitude of success, an "I deserve to succeed" stance on life will so much more enable us to achieve our goals. When we come from a place of failure, fearing the what-ifs and worse case scenarios, we are setting ourselves up for the 1 thing we are trying most to avoid. Knowing that we deserve the success and coming from that place in our attitude through everything we do, enables us to show up already expecting to succeed. And finally- giving up the control. This has been a HUGE lesson for me- but one that has really helped me in my daily life- with of course continually daily reminders. We can try with all of our might to push through the uncomfortable zone, have a passionate heart, and show up with an attitude of success (and though I believe all of these to be key components in overcoming any challenge) at the end of the day, the control is out of our hands. If we get hurt, if we slip, if we fail, or mess up- we ultimately have no control over these unforseen circumstances. So, the moment at which we are able to fully accept this- and charge forward with full confidence- saying to the universe (or whatever God you follow) "This one's for you- I 'm not taking the control on this one" we are able to remain focused and continue on full forced.
I hope all of these challenge lessons are able to help you in your daily life as much as they have helped me :) Challenge, though unpleasant in certain times, can be one of those life experiences that not only change our lives, but can make us grow into the bigger and better things life has waiting for us :)
xoxo AA