SANTA INFLUENCES MY LIFE-LONG DREAM
“Making a difference” has always been my mantra, yet age, wisdom and stage in life have united to bring me to the point where I can now take greater action. It is time for me to move beyond my family and community; beyond the individual lives that I have impacted. I have felt a calling, actually a very large magnetic pull towards some type of greater difference for a while now, but had felt limited due to lack of surplus funds. Sure it would be great to have a fully funded foundation to make donations to worthy causes that I believe in, but I think that a lofty plan like that has to have a simple start. The simple start is the major “ah ha” or awakening that I have just experienced. If I silence the call due to thinking that I am limited in doing my heart’s work, then I will live a life unfulfilled, not being able to use the strengths and talents that I have been given to exact change in the world around me.
Two recent events have come together in my life to put me back on the path to realizing the whisper of my dreams. The first occurred Monday night when I participated in the CEO-ACT seminar. After listening to veteran financier Steve Klumb, SVP of National Bank, I realized that there are funds out there for all kinds of endeavors. I look at my friend and fellow XU MBA alum, Brian Siegel, who also is quite passionate about making a difference and I see that beyond his volunteer roles, and positions on foundation boards, he has stepped up to the plate to create his own foundation and to gather a team of people who can help him reach his goals.
The turning point for me was the front page article in today’s 11/19/08 Enquirer with the headline: “This year, Santa needs some Christmas cheer”. The picture of Bill Zapf, Sr. as Santa is the absolutely most realistic picture of Santa I have ever seen in my life and the look on his face of such concern amidst the wonder and magic of Christmas is so clearly evident. Enquirer writer, Cliff Radel, reports that Bill has been “playing” Santa for 37 years, decorating his North College Hill home with a bazillion lights and holiday decorations and donning his “uniform” to stand outside, no matter the weather, to wave at passing cars and hand out candy canes. He said it all began when he was young, and his large family of 8 could not afford to put up lots of decorations and light displays. His father would pile the whole family into their station wagon and drive through the
The Enquirer photo shows Bill with that look of concern because he won’t be out in front of his brightly lit house this Christmas season spreading the cheer that will most certainly be needed more than in any other year. Bill won’t be there, because he has pancreatic cancer, one of the most deadly forms of cancer there is. Bill isn’t concerned about himself or the pain he is going through; he is concerned that he won’t be able to personally make a difference in the lives of the people who will be passing by his house this holiday season. He won’t have the strength to stand outside; to lift his arm in a huge wave; to voice a boisterous “ho, ho, ho”; to hand out small canes of red, and white striped candy. In this time of personal challenge, he cares more about others than himself. The Enquirer quoted Bill as saying, “Tell everybody, my prayers go out to them…and if they can say a prayer, say one for me.”
My prayers are with Bill as he takes this final journey and with his family as they help him through it and work to keep his dream of making a difference alive in North College Hill.
His story has had such a profound effect on me and is the last tiny key that unlocks the restrictions on my ability to give of myself in a greater way. Now I take this knowledge with the solid idea that nothing can stop me from achieving my heart’s work. Nothing. Because in the end, doing what you are called to do is what life is really all about.
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