A couple weeks ago, as I was driving in my own neighborhood, I passed a group of five young children who were standing in the driveway in front of one of their homes.
I was talking to my son as we passed by, when I heard a knock on the back side of my Hummer. Being in a state of calm, I gradually put my foot on the break, and shifted into reverse. I backed to the five young children and asked, “Did something just hit my car?”
One boy spoke. “A rock accidentally slipped out of my hand,” he said.
I said, “Rocks don’t usually do that. Next time you’re holding one, keep it in your hand when I drive by.”
The mother of this young boy then squatted and put her arms around him. She began to whisper to him. I figured the matter settled, shifted into drive and waved goodbye.
Yesterday afternoon, when I was in my home office doing some writing, my son called to me. “Daddy, the kid who hit your Hummer with a rock is at the front door with his parents.”
I inhaled deeply, got up and walked to the front door. The mother squatted once again, put her hands on her son”s shoulder and said “Now what are you going to say?”
The four year-old uttered two words we don’t hear from many kids these days. “I’m sorry for throwing a rock at your truck. It was wrong.”
I bent over and shook the boy’s hand. I thanked him for what he said. I thanked his parents, too.
They asked if there was any damage. “No,” I said. “Hummers are tough. But I’m glad you came by anyway.”
I then asked the boy if he was going trick-or-treating in the evening. He got excited and said “Yes, I’m going to be Matt Garza.”
Garza, the pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays threw the first no-hitter in Ray’s history this past July. So I asked the boy, “Do you have Matt Garza’s autograph.”
He shook his head from side to side.
“Hold on a second,” I said, “let me go get something.” I returned 20 seconds later with an autographed Matt Garza baseball in a case.
When the boy saw what I had in my hands, his face lit up. I bent my knees, placed the ball in his hands and said “This is the best Halloween gift you’ll ever get.
The boy’s parents were overjoyed. So was I. For two weeks they’ve been trying to find the home with the Hummer. But every time they dropped by the vehicle was gone. They felt horrible about what their son had done and couldn’t let it rest without teaching him the value of an apology. And so, although I gave the ball to the young boy, it’s really for their family.
“Do me a favor,” I said to the boy, “don’t get in the habit of expecting an autographed baseball every time you do something wrong.”
All os us laughed.
You may wonder how I could deal with this situation so calmly – even at the moment the rock struck my vehicle. I make no claims to being this calm all the time. I’ve blown my top more times than I care to remember.
So where did the calmness come from in this situation.
It comes from the Calm Mind – Calm Body exercise in Zero Resistance Living. It teaches you how to go into a peaceful state of mind even when under stress. Even when being attacked.
It also comes from the Mistake Maker – Mistake Breaker exercise in the same course.
This boy made a mistake – and he vowed never to make it again. In this instance, that’s good enough for me.
If you’d like to have this type of calmness and peace of mind, too, then be sure to order the Zero Resistance Living program today.
Best,
Matt Furey
