When I was twenty-three, financial challenges forced me to sell off my baseball card collection. I realize how trivial this may sound to some of you. But I had been collecting cards since I was six years old and they were precious to me.
I remember biking home from the drugstore with a fresh box of cards and sitting at our family room table lovingly opening each pack, checking each card against my checklist and organizing them into appropriate piles. My happiness could not have been more complete.
Saying goodbye to my baseball cards felt like I was losing my best friends—and a big piece of my youth as well. I miss them to this day.
In hindsight, however, I am glad I had to let them go. If I hadn’t, I would have continued to immerse myself in my hobbies—baseball cards, comic books, coins and stamps. And chances are I would have continued to be your typical self-absorbed, unenlightened nerd (not that there’s anything wrong with that; umm, on second thought, yes there is). Just thinking of the person I used to be makes me cringe. Back then, I didn’t have a clue that I didn’t have a clue.
Losing my baseball cards was the first time I had to deal with profound loss. I know, that’s pretty laughable when compared to people who have lost loved ones, homes, and especially their innocence, at a young age. But that was my experience, and I didn’t have the maturity and wisdom at the time to put it into proper perspective.
But I do now. And I am grateful that life forced me to grow up and get a clue. Repeatedly. I see clearly now that every difficult time in my life, whether it was financial challenges, losing jobs or ending relationships, carried with it the seeds of opportunity and growth. If life had gone exactly as I planned, I wouldn’t be half the man I am today. As Paramahansa Yogananda so adroitly noted, a smooth life is not a victorious life.
So if you’re going through a tough time right now, I hope you can find come measure of solace in these words of wisdom:
You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.
Walt Disney
ABOUT PHIL BOLSTA
Phil is the author of Sixty Seconds: One Moment Changes Everything, a collection of 45 inspiring, life-changing stories from prominent people he interviewed, including Joan Borysenko, Deepak Chopra, geneticist Dr. Francis Collins, acclaimed sportswriter Frank Deford, Dr. Larry Dossey, Wayne Dyer, Dan Millman, Caroline Myss, Dr. Christiane Northrup, Dr. Dean Ornish, Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen, Dr. Bernie Siegel, James Van Praagh, singer Billy Vera, Doreen Virtue, Neale Donald Walsch, and bassist Victor Wooten.
Here is a three-minute video that introduces you to Phil and his book.
Reading this book is like spending a few minutes face to face with each of the contributors and listening to their personal stories. Click here to read unsolicited testimonials from readers. Learn more by visiting the official Sixty Seconds website.
Tags: baseball cards, coins, comic books, financial challenges, growth, hobbies, loss, maturity, opportunities for growth, self-absorbed, spiritual, stamps, wisdom
