Episode 166: Hope is a Luxury for the Rich

Welcome to the Soul of Innovation podcast. I am Thomas Anglero, and I'm back from a very long trip into a very poor country where I have reflections that have changed me, and I want to share these stories with you. One story in particular, something I experienced that I believe will make all of us feel better about the lives we have now. Irregardless of all the troubles that you may have. I hope this truly inspires you to feel better about your situation. I was in a very poor country, very beautiful people, as most poor countries. As you travel around the world and you travel to different neighborhoods, even in the United States, some of the poorest people who have nothing are are the sweetest, most humble, kindest, and generous people you'll ever meet. You don't need to travel abroad. Just go down the block and meet somebody poor. Meet a homeless person. They'll shift your mindset. Anyway, I was traveling to a very poor country, and I stayed at a very fancy hotel. And one morning I decided to go to the weight room to work out. And as I'm working out, I go to the window in the weight room where I have my water bottle set. And as I'm drinking my water bottle, I look out the window, and it's very early, so the sun's just coming up. And there's this truck down on the street, and I could see the hotel workers coming out of the hotel. And one of them has a stick. He goes to the truck, and the truck is open— the back of the truck is open— and he just bangs on the stick on the side of the truck and stands there. He doesn't stand there violently, just sort of patiently waiting for something to happen. I thought it was kind of peculiar, so I kept on watching. And then slowly out of the truck emerged these different— these men, different sizes, older men, young men, like 5, 7 people came out of this truck. And that's where they had spent the night. So the first thing I thought was, wow, these guys— and, and by the way, when they came out the truck, they all went their own direction. It's not like these 5 or 7 guys were together as a group. They all were looking for a place to sleep the night before, something with some— a roof. Something that's off the ground so snakes or dogs or wild animals or insects wouldn't get to them. So these group of strangers found this truck that was open in the back, and they all went in, shared a very tight space, slept on top of each other. So they all emerged out of the truck and they went their own way. Except for 3 of them. These 3 people, 2 of them were very young boys and one was an older man. They, 3 of them, climbed out of the truck one at a time, and the boys first climbed out, and they found the curb, they walked over to the curb that was near the truck and they sat down. And the second boy went over to the curb and he sat beside the other one, so I assume maybe, and they looked similar, so I thought maybe they were brothers. The third person came out of the truck was the older man. He came out of the truck and walked softly over to the boys. The boys had their heads down between their knees. They were exhausted because they had just been woken up suddenly. They were so tired. You could see they were just so tired, leaning over. And the older man went up to them. And he gently placed his hand on the back of their heads, on their hair, and just shook their heads gently, rubbing it lovingly, caring. And at that moment, I knew that was their father. And he just rubbed their heads gently. And those boys were exhausted. They were so tired. I don't know how much sleep they got, but it wasn't much and it wasn't good quality sleep. And the father just looked up in the sky, shoulders dropped, with a look of hopelessness. I was taken aback, surprised at the situation that this loving family, this father and sons, are living. And here I am in a fancy hotel doing a workout in a gym. I kept watching for the next 40 minutes to see what would happen. To see what choices, what options they had. Why is it that I could sit, stand in this hotel up above them, in this fancy training center, in this fancy hotel with a free buffet breakfast waiting for me downstairs as soon as I'm done taking my warm shower with fancy soaps beautiful, clean towels, a robe and slippers waiting for me in my hotel room with a killer view. Why am I so fortunate to be in that situation? But yet when I look with my eyes in this very same moment, I see a father. I'm a father. Are you a father? We love our kids, and I'm looking at another father who has no options, no hope. The best he could do was to have— find a truck, an open truck, and allow— and have his kids— they found a place to sleep for the night. And for those 40 minutes I stood there, they didn't leave. They stood there. They had no place to go. There was no option for food. There was no breakfast. There was no lunch. There was no job. There was no mom to say good morning, welcome the day. We just shared the sunrise. For them, it's just another day of surviving. For me, it was— I could just turn around and do another workout. Why are we so lucky? That feeling that Father had when I looked at him, I hurt so much inside because it hurts. You love your kids so much. We would do anything for them. And this poor man started his day off hurting inside that his two sons They're just sitting there on this dirty side street curb. No hope. No choices. No options. But he loves his kids as much as I love mine. Life is so unfair. And then I reflected, I grew up in poverty too. And it takes a lot, and it costs a lot to lift yourself out of poverty. And this poor man, he hasn't realized or hasn't found those options yet, and neither has his sons. I don't blame them. It is so hard when everybody around you push you down. No one compliments you, no one sees you. People make fun of you because of the way you look. People make fun of you because of the way you speak. People make fun of you, people criticize you. Life becomes so negative that it feels hopeless, and then you're stuck. I'm guessing that's what his story is. I'm guessing maybe that's what your story might be. Or maybe a piece of it. I'm still hurting when I think of that look of that father as he looked up in the sky. Hopeless. Why is it that you, me, we could sit here and listen to a podcast on probably some fancy mobile phone. Or maybe some fancy headsets, some Apple AirPods or something expensive. And other people literally have nothing. I'm not going to answer that question. All I'm going to say to you is this: be extremely grateful. Be extremely Thankful for your position, for the life that you have at this very, very moment. There are other people who have it so much worse than you, and they love their children. They want options. They want to eat. They want shelter. They want love as much as you do. And they have no way, no way of obtaining it. Do you know how lucky you are? Do you know how— did you wake up this morning in the back of a truck? Did you wake up with somebody hitting a stick to the side of the damn truck, but felt like it hit the side of your head? Is that how you woke up this morning? And the clothes that you've been wearing for the last, I don't know how many months, You just got up because you went to sleep with them, you woke up with them, you crawled out of a truck, fell onto the street, and sat on the curb. Or if you were the other gentleman, you just started walking until that day ended and you found the next truck. Is that what happened to you this morning when you woke up? Did that— is that the options you had for the day? Or do you have a job? Or you moan and groan about taking the bus or the train or the traffic. Put your life in perspective. There are tens of millions, there are hundreds of millions of people who every day wake up that way, in a truck, under a piece of cardboard, with no options. We are so lucky. We are so blessed. And we feel sorry for ourselves at the drop of a dime. Woe is me. How horrible I got it. What bull. We don't know what hard is. We've forgotten. Let's remember. Go forth and spread beauty and light. Be proud of who you are. Be grateful of the life you have, regardless of the pains and tribulations and challenges that consume you. You are blessed. You are lucky. Don't forget that. Live by that. Remember, there are tens to hundreds of million people waking up every day when no hope. Your life is the definition of hope. Be grateful for it. I love you. This is Thomas Anglero. Be grateful and be kind to yourself. Be grateful and be kind to others. We don't know the life that they're living. We don't know the things they're going through. But let me tell you, my trip abroad, I was very strongly reminded how lucky I am. You should be also with this story be reminded how lucky you are. How lucky we are just to breathe without having a respirator machine tied to us. Think about it. How lucky you are. And now, go start your day. Take care of yourself. Until next time. Thank you for listening to that episode. If you want to contact me, you can contact me on my website at anglero.com, and you can also subscribe to the newsletter, or you can find me anywhere on social media with Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. Thank you so much, and I hope to hear from you very soon.