How to serve in 2023
"Any time you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don't, then you are wasting your time on Earth."
"Any time you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don't, then you are wasting your time on Earth." — Roberto Clemente
Fifty years ago last weekend, baseball star and humanitarian Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was on a cargo plane carrying relief supplies to the victims of a devastating earthquake in Nicaragua. Following 18 superb seasons in the major leagues, he died a hero’s death at 38.
Clemente was the leader of Puerto Rican efforts to aid the Nicaraguan victims — he spent Christmas week (1972) in a parking lot organizing supplies for the people of Nicaragua. Clemente, who had told others he felt he was going to die young, was aboard the plane that crashed because relief supplies were falling into the hands of profiteers. And, when he died, Clemente had been planning to create a sports center for children in Puerto Rico.
In 1973, he became the first Latino inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
I lived in Pittsburgh for a summer while interning at the local newspaper. It was clear that locals still adore Clemente and many share their memories of him today. There’s a beautiful museum in his honor, and a wonderful book about him by the great biographer David Maraniss.
For more on Clemente, I have written about his impact on me, and my dad, in both the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Athletic. Here’s an excerpt:
As a kid, I wasn’t much of a reader. I later came to appreciate how reading fuels and transports our minds in remarkable ways. The first time a book moved me, the first time one shaped me, I was about 8 years old. My father and I were sitting on my bedroom floor one afternoon. He perused the children’s paperback, “Roberto Clemente: Young Baseball Hero.” At first, all I enjoyed were the photographs: a young Clemente playing baseball in Puerto Rico, his friends and family working in the sugar cane fields, the images of him in a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform. A few minutes passed before my dad set the book on his lap. He raised one of his hands to his eyes. They were wet. It was the first time I saw him cry.
The book ended the same way Clemente’s life did, in a plane crash on Dec. 31, 1972, while he was flying supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. He was 38. This baseball player, this humanitarian who happened to play baseball, brought my dad to tears. As a young boy, I saw Dad, a person who’s supposed to be flawless, in tears. That doesn’t leave you. Men are raised and conditioned not to show vulnerability, and my dad was no different.
Something magical happened. At that moment Clemente began to feel like a friend. Considering the day now, it is a powerful reminder of the preciousness of life. I’ll never meet him, but from that day forward I adored Clemente. The values by which Clemente lived, centered on living for the people around you, drove me to find something worth loving to do for the rest of my life. My dad’s appreciation for Clemente, as well as Clemente’s greatness in itself, taught me how to love life with all its beauties, and how quickly everything we have can fade away. Embrace the mundane. Find a person you want to emulate. Treat others with kindness. Chase your dream.
Clemente didn’t just talk about making a difference; he was often busy making one, just like fellow humanitarian Jackie Robinson, who said: “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.”
In this spirit, I urge you to ask yourself in 2023: How can I better serve the people around me this year? How can I be a bit kinder, and gentler, to myself, my loved ones, and strangers?
A wonderful way to reflect on 2022 and look forward…
What did I change my mind about this year? (Maybe it was a hobby, job, career, relationship, or place to live)
What created energy this year? (Maybe it was exercise, travel, time with family, or a particular work or creative project)
What drained energy this year? (Maybe email, meetings, or over-scheduling yourself)
What were the boat anchors in my life? (People who hold you back from your potential — people who belittle, put down, or diminish your accomplishments. People who laugh at your ambition and tell you to be more realistic. People who harm the quality of your environment through negativity)
What did I not do because of fear? (Goal: Get closer to your fears in 2023)
What were my greatest hits and worst misses this year? (Hit: Maybe you launched a new career, wrote a book, etc. Miss: Lost on an investment, lost a friendship)
What did I learn this year?
(H/T Sahil Bloom)
Next, a few questions from
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Photo of the week:
I would love to hear your thoughts on 2022 or your goals and habits for 2023. What have you struggled with? What habits or routines work for you? How do you serve others? (I read every single one of your emails, and do my best to reply to all of them.)
Parting quote: “It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that things are difficult.” — Seneca
Health & Happiness in 2023,
Matthew