"It was an honor serving for you!" humbled by proud military veteran

Hello, this is Thomas Anglero and this is the Soul Elevation Podcast. This past week I was in Berkeley, California and I met two veterans who reset my perspective on life and I wanted to share with you this story because I believe that it will also help to reset yours. And, well, I hope you enjoy this experience. While I was in Berkeley, California, I went to have a walk in downtown Berkeley, which is, uh, 4th Street, if you ever go to Berkeley. And as I walked along 4th Street and all the expensive stores there, as I crossed the 1st Street, it came up upon the sidewalk— these two veterans were standing there. It was Veterans Day weekend, or the weekend of Veterans Day, and they set up a pop-up table there with the American flag draped over it. And on the table were pictures of all the men who had been brought up in Berkeley, who had served in the military from World War II on, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and all the wars after that, and had lost their lives or at least served their country to provide peace for the United States, for the citizens of the United States. And as I got onto the curb and I approached these gentlemen and were about to walk by them, One of them said to me, "Hello," and I turned and I said, "Hello," and as we caught each other's eyes, he looked at me and said, "It was an honor to serve for you." Wha— what? The way he said those words, he was at attention, he meant it, he was looking deep in my eyes when he said it, and I understood this man, this man who probably is married and has kids, this man who has definitely a mother and a father, this man who is loved, he served for me. He risked his life He put himself in harm's way so that I can have the life that I've had, so that this moment, at this very bit of time, I can walk down 4th Street in Berkeley, breathing the air that I breathe and having all the life experience I've had while this guy was in harm's way, was avoiding bullets and all these horrible things, and then in his free time after he'd gotten back, he's here in Berkeley at a table to tell strangers that walk by, "It was an honor to serve for you." What kind of person is this man? What kind of person can do that? How much pride and dignity do you have where you almost give up your life for every stranger that walks by, and then you set up a table, and you use your time, and you tell everybody how much love you have for them? It was an honor to serve for you. What type of perspective does this man have? How small am I? I didn't know what to say. So I tried to compose myself and I came up with the only thing I could say and I stopped from walking and I turned to him and I said, "Thank you. Thank you." He did not break from looking deep within my pupils, and he said without hesitation, "I would do it again." Naysir, I swear to you, when he said those words, it echoed in my brain. It did not leave. It bounced from inside of my ears, and my brain was just hearing, "I would do it again." would do it again. Wow. Who are these people? These heroes? Why don't we all have that perspective? I lost it. I, I took a couple of steps, found the tree, leaned on the tree, and I just started crying. Because I understood something that I— I have never met anyone like these two men. They risked their lives and they would do it again for a complete stranger. We're caught up with all this stuff all day long. We're caught up with, my boss doesn't like me, nobody listens to me, I'm not being treated right, or All these things and you could fill the list. You have your own list. Fill it up. You done? Now think about this. This guy, not just this guy, but all military people in every country in the world risk their lives so that you could fill up your life with a list. They risk their lives. They have people at home who love them. They have a kid who is crying saying, "Where's mama? Where's papa?" Where's mommy? Where's daddy? Why aren't they home? They're out almost dying for you. They're out taking bullets. They're risking their lives every single moment so that we can breathe air. We can have these life experiences. And when they come back and during their free time, they set up a table and they say, "I would do it again." My God. That's a hero. That's a damn hero. And how come aren't we that way? How come if all of us, if all of us took that perspective that I would risk my life for you, I don't ever, I will never meet you, you're a complete stranger to me, but I am going to give up my ultimate thing, which is my life, my time. If I give up my life, I will never spend it with my daughter. I will never spend it with my son or my future children. I will never see anybody I love ever again. I'm gonna do all that for you and I'm never gonna meet you. That is who those guys are. That is who all military people are in countries all over the world. They're heroes. How come we don't walk around with that perspective? If we did, what kind of world would we have? One second later. I'm proud to serve for you, and I would do it again. That reset me. I hope it's resetting you. Stop being caught up with all the things you're caught up with and just have that reflection. We are lucky to even have the moments that we have to get caught up on our crap. There's so much bigger things out there, and the world we have and the life we have is all on us. Just change your perspective. Take the perspective of these gentlemen. Life is so big and so important that I would give it up just to make sure that you have a life. Holy crap. Going forward, I don't think I'll ever be the same. I got it, gentlemen. You've changed me, and I think you've changed everyone. And for everyone that passed by that table, I hope they felt the same thing I did. So to finish the story on an up note, not so heavy, I learned something that when you experience these life moment things, you make sure you tell people that you love them and that You don't just walk away from this, you walk towards the light, not away. So I composed myself, turned around, went back to the gentlemen and I said, "Excuse me, gentlemen, may I take your picture?" And they said, "Of course, but why?" Again, blowing me away. I said, because I just cried because of what you told me, and I would be honored if I could take your picture, and then I would like to add it to presentations that I do as I travel around the world talking to people. And they stood for the picture, I took the picture, And one of the gentlemen then turned to his friend and said, "Hey Daniel, we're going on a world tour!" And in all this moment they even had humor. It was fantastic. It was an honor to serve for you, and I would do it again. Perfect words to end this podcast. Until next time, this is Thomas Anglero for The Soul of Innovation. I love you. Take care. Bye-bye.