The Uniqueness of You
by Charles C. Hall, EdD

"... if all men were alike, all thoughts alike ... could differences be abolished, sweet love were slain." - Greek Poet

Who, other than a long ago, unnamed Greek poet could have expressed the above thought in the same way to make the point he did? Would there not have been a Wm. Shakespeare, we would not have his treasure trove of poems and plays. Could anyone other than Christopher Marlowe have penned Dr. Faustus? How about Moby Dick?; Huckleberry Finn?; Tom Sawyer? In my opinion, these literary treasures would never have appeared on this earth had not their authors lived.

Each of us has some unique gift which we must share with others for it to be validated. I'm not going to speculate on where we came from, nor why we are here in this place at this time. I simply know that I am here.

The journey of any one of us is a winding trail through the labyrinth of possibilities, of errors, successes enjoyed, roads taken and not taken. I am who I am by the accident of birth, my familial connections, and many hundreds (perhaps thousands) of coincidences through my eighty-three years of stumbling incompetence and occa- sional good fortune.

I always told those who worked with me at Rusk State Hospital, "If not for you, we would have accomplished nothing. We would have been stuck in the same rut as in the past hundred years of this place. You and I made a significant difference in the lives of these unfortunate people whose lives we have been permitted to improve. I congratulate you, believe in you, therefore, believe in yourselves."

I rarely mention anyone's name in these pieces I write for The Statesman. I'm going to break that rule this one time and comment on someone who began small -- a Mom and Pop business selling milk, bread, gas.

It expanded to a highly successful enterprise. I'll bet this person, in his wildest dreams, could not have imagined how varied and expansive it would become. You may say, "Oh well, someone would have thought of it." That may very well be true. But it would not have been by the uniqueness of this man.

He is a wonder, but I don't think he sits around patting himself on the back, smug in his accomplishments. No. He's just an ordinary guy -- like you and me -- who made a complex decision which proved fortuitous.

At this time, he is in a personal struggle just to continue his life. It is probably the toughest battle he has ever fought. I met him again recently, and the big, friendly grin and hearty greeting were as always and anon, for my son Mark and me. Jerry Kidd, I'm pulling for you, as are all your true friends. You and Alice Murl have been generous to a fault to your - our - community.

I do not believe for one second that my or anyone else's life bio is preordained. Life is much like poker, it's "the luck of the draw." That notion flies in the face of "conventional wisdom," so-called by the pundits. But, I have never placed a great deal of confidence in such.

However, along with a little or a lot of luck, the choices we make either "make us or break us," in tandem with our genetic make-up, the community (ies) in which we inhabit, and our family (ies).

"I am that I am" is probably the first existential statement uttered. We can each become what we basically are, we cannot become what we are not.

If, as we have heard, happiness is a by-product of the way we live, I'd say ole Jerry is clam happy -- just like me. There will never be anyone like you or me. Therefore, embrace your uniqueness at all cost.

Oh, and one more thing. Just out of the army, and stumbling around trying to adjust to civilian life, I met a man who taught me much with one sentence. Walter Kline. He had been mayor of Wichita Falls during the Great Depression. He had made and lost two fortunes in the oil patch around Electra and the Falls. He had come back strong each time, and at the time I met him, he had made another fortune.

I was doing a job for him on one of his properties. One day, he and some friends were talking while I was at my job. Somehow, their conversation drifted to one's outlook on life. I heard Mr. Kline say, "It's not how much money you have, it's what you think about it."

Wham!! That's a secret few of us ever learn. I learned that day a great lesson, in one simple sentence. One of those coincidences I mentioned earlier. I don't know for sure, but I think that's kind of the way Ole Jer feels about himself. Mr. Kline never lost his way worrying about what he had or didn't have. He was content either way. And, that's the secret.