Kelly Vohs

He was at least 6'3”. Maybe 6'5”. Big guy.

You see he was just laid off. He said, quite sincerely, “I understand, it isn't their fault.” Wow. I wish I could tell him the truth. It is someone's fault. Bad decision somewhere and now he's dealing with it.

He works with his hands. He fixes things. Builds things. He has a family. A young family. He wore a suit. He looked good. You see, he was applying for a new job and getting it was important. He has a wife. A little one. He's 12. He wants desperately to take care of them. You can tell he just wants to do what's right. To be a good father. A good husband. A good human. Now he's out of a job. Only for a week but when you live paycheck to paycheck that is real. My gut tells me he doesn't because he lives beneath his means. But maybe not.

As he briefly told his story, with very deep sincerity, he looked up and said: “we don't have much, but we are happy.” He meant that. He was saying, we have each other. He was saying I love what I have. I don't need more. Just my son. Just my wife. And I want to work, and I'll work very hard, to provide for them.

I'll take a hundred of him. If we could all be more like him. More focused on what we have, not what we want. I'm trying to do that. It's active. It takes focus. Trying to stop paying attention to the noise that highlights what I want. Travel. Stuff. Adventure. The stuff I've lost. Etc.

What I really want is peace. I'm finding more of it now that I realize what I have is what I want. It's a struggle. But at least I understand the struggle a little better. Gotta stay focused. And maybe there is stuff I have that might need to go away. More is rarely better. Less often is.

At least that is how I see it now. The struggle continues.