“Who is George Bailey?”
That was a bonus question to my students; watching the body language was fun….for me. The blank stares; deep thoughts; trying to make eye contact with a friend across the room. The answers were priceless: a kid in your first period class; that weird boy that sits alone in the lunchroom; and the usual: never heard of him.
Who is George Bailey? Where is George Bailey?
The Baby Boomers reading this are laughing; they know George Bailey. We all do; but the younger generations possibly do not. Sad.
There is a George Bailey in each one of us.
We all have hopes, dreams, ambitions; we make plans. Then things happen; unplanned things. Some say life is what happens when we are making plans. It’s like a curve ball thrown to us and we aren’t sure how to make the next play. Could it be that in reality those unexpected detours are leading us toward our destiny?
We choose; George Bailey chose to do the next right thing even when it kept him from his plan.
Our parents, fondly known as the WWll generation, many of them had their dreams and plans changed due to a war that none of them had anything to do with. Yet, that event changed the course of history for an entire generation. Many didn’t even get to live to see what they could accomplish. The ones who did were changed forever. As horrible as war is and that one was no different, the survivors became known as the greatest generation. The George Bailey in them rose to a standard that possibly they didn’t even know was within them till they were put to the test. They became known for doing the next right thing even when they paid the price of forfeiting personal dreams.
My generation is the product of that particular George Bailey group of people. I don’t want what I now see so clearly to be lost; the standards that sometimes seemed unreachable to be lowered; the values and rich heritage of honesty and integrity to be weakened till they don’t exist. There were some things in my childhood that aren’t fond memories, but my character isn’t one of them. I like who I have become and who I was taught to be.
During the holiday season I have the strongest need to go home. I can sometimes close my eyes, and for a second smell the aroma of cookies baking. Faintly I hear Bing Crosby, Ertha Kitt and Gene Autry on the hifi. I long to feel the warmth of the small house, hear daddy say grace, see mother’s tired smile from cooking all day and night; and fuss with my brothers and sister. I want to see the faces of aunts, uncles and grandparents who added to the laughter. There were no presents; no gift-giving; but just being together was the gift. As a kid I was rich and didn’t know it.
Perspective. It’s a funny thing. Just as we age so does the way we view life. George Bailey reminds me every year of what rich looks like. Some say it’s in the eye of the beholder; maybe that is right. As each year comes and quickly goes, I’m beholding joy, hope, peace, gratitude, health, kindness, faith, family and friends as riches.
When I began this blog post I wasn’t sure where it was going. I knew it would lead me home to each of you; hopefully to encourage you to see the good in your life. Hold tight to your memories but live in the present to make new ones! Many of us can’t go home but we can create a wonderful home for others and together add to their memories; even something as simple as baking cookies with grandkids.
Life is what we choose to make it; eventually George Bailey realized that. However, some things need to be non-negotiable. All of us have had countless opportunities to give up joy; experiences that challenged our heart strings and could have pushed us into doom, gloom and eventually defeat. In the early ‘90’s I read a story in one of Max Lucado’s books, THE EYE OF THE STORM. The story was called The Old Woodcutter; that one story inspired me to never give up on God, always know what we see isn’t the final outcome if we choose to trust God and believe, and joy is as necessary as breathing!
I haven’t had a perfect life; lots of detours along the way. But I was never alone; God was always with me; His joy and peace sustained me to keep trusting and moving forward. That is why I can honestly say, it’s been A WONDERFUL LIFE.
By the way, did you just hear a bell ring?
