Part 3: O – Opportunity to Serve
The knight picked up the scroll out of the ‘O’ box and unraveled it. It read ‘Opportunity to Serve.’
“Kind of long there, isn’t it, Fairyboy?” The knight mocked. “Shouldn’t it be something that’s say, one-word? Like Oprah or Omelette?”
“Work with me kid. Opportunity to Serve is one of the most powerful of the four parts of H.O.P.E.” the Fairy Godfather said. “It’s like what Clarence from ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ will someday say, “You’ve been given a great gift.” It’s time for you to go forward and help others who are walking in your shoes.”
The knight scratched his chin and asked, “why?” Fear rolled over on the couch, grabbed more chips and broke wind.
The Fairy Godfather fluttered above them and began to tell another story.” There once was a man who lost his father to melanoma. He and another melanoma survivor became a two-man support group and discovered that no one knew much about that particular type of cancer. And since melanoma can be cured if caught early, they soon realized they needed to educate others about it. So they started a 5K race. But what it really was was a skin screening with a race built around it. Soon they had hundreds of people getting screened before the race, and several melanomas were caught. They helped other people. And they raised serious cash for melanoma research.”
“So they were able to help others avoid their fate.” Said the knight. How would that help me? ”
“There you go again missing the big picture,” said the Fairy Godfather. “First of all, it’s the right thing to do. That goes without saying. But motivational speaker Zig Ziglar said it best when he said, ‘You can have everything in life that you want if you just give enough other people what they want.’ The race organizers soon found they had peace because they felt like they were DOING something to fight the very disease that had made them feel helpless. It gave the tragedy in their lives a little bit of purpose. So get off that couch — DO SOMETHING to fight back! And helping others is the most powerful weapon in your arsenal.”
“So I need to start a race?” the knight quizzed the flying wand-toting man.
“Not necessarily. It doesn’t have to be that elaborate. Seek out someone else going through what you just went through. Support him or her. Listen. Help them cross through the journey you just made. Remember when you felt alone? Make sure someone else doesn’t have to go through it, too. That’s making a difference. You’ve been given a great opportunity. USE IT!”
Fear whimpered after hearing those words. The knight noticed that the little dragon was starting to look very uncomfortable. And then the knight reached for the “P” box.
© 2011 Marshall Ramsey
