I met a cab driver today when I was in San Francisco for meetings. His name was Rajeev and he was such an interesting & inspirational character. In the 15-20 minutes that it took to go from SFO to 3rd & Bryant, Rajeev told me his life story. He moved here from India about 18 years ago, leaving his wife and 2 kids behind. He wanted to make a better life for them and knew that coming to America could do that. He talks to his family 2 times a day, in the morning and at night, and goes to visit them about 3-4 times a year. His daughter is in college and when he talked about her, his eyes lit up and a smile overcame his face. His son is about to graduate from highschool. He said his wife is the most beautiful person in the world and he is so happy he met her. He has been a cab driver for the same amount of time he’s lived here. And in India, his family owns and operates an import/export company which takes him also to England and Germany for business.
When I found out about his family business, I internally pondered at the fact that even though they have that going for them out there, that he was still driving a cab around in San Fran, choosing to be away from his family. I couldn’t understand why he’d still want to live here, isolated from them if the business was doing well. He turned to me and said, “I know people think I’m some stupid cab driver. But I have a great life and I’m thankful every day for what God has given to me. I call my family in the morning and then pray to God for an hour. I pray to God at lunch. And then at night I call my family and pray to God again. I love my life and am very happy and proud, and I wouldn’t change anything.”
So I started to think about whether or not any of us could say the same thing. Can you REALLY sit there and say right now that you are so happy and content about your life? If you say yes, that means you’re not complaining about anything – work, family, money, status, etc. If you say no, that you’re not really content with your life, then think about why not. What would you change? And is what you’re complaining about really that big of a deal? Of course I can say too that I’d love to live in a house, work out more, have a family, etc. But I really appreciate Rajeev’s insights because he made me stop and think that in this big game of life, we forget about a lot of things and make less important stuff more of a priority. It’s really the small things in life that matter and can make you happy if you just let it.
