The Gift of Influence by Tommy Spaulding

Author:Tommy Spaulding [Spaulding, Tommy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2022-09-20T00:00:00+00:00

Start an Influence Streak

One of my most cherished places in the world is Monument Park in Yankee Stadium. It holds a collection of statues, plaques, and retired numbers honoring the best New York Yankees of all time. My favorite plaque is for Lou Gehrig, nicknamed the Iron Horse. He played first base for the Yankees from 1923 until 1939, when he became hampered by a mysterious ailment called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The disease, later dubbed Lou Gehrig’s disease, took the Yankee great’s life just two years later. When the ailing Iron Horse took himself out of the lineup in 1939, he had played an astounding 2,130 consecutive games. His plaque in Monument Park says HENRY LOUIS GEHRIG: A MAN, A GENTLEMAN AND A GREAT BALL PLAYER WHOSE AMAZING RECORD OF 2130 CONSECUTIVE GAMES SHOULD STAND FOR ALL TIME.

Indeed, for decades and decades, people thought that that record would stand for all time. Baseball is a tough sport. Your body breaks down when you play nine innings day in and day out. But fifty-six years after Gehrig played his last game, the streak was beaten by a shortstop named Cal Ripken, Jr. For 2,632 straight games, Cal strapped on his cleats and showed up for work. He showed up when he was sick, when his knee hurt, when anyone else would have slept in. Cal wasn’t always the best player on the field in those 2,632 games. Sometimes he went 0–4 at the plate or made an error. But he always showed up, he was always dependable, and that is why he is considered one of the greatest of all time.

Streaks aren’t just for baseball. Every day, someone is counting on you to simply show up, even if you aren’t at your best. As Cal himself later wrote, “You raise children, you build a business, or you’re there for your friends: If you just keep showing up, whether you set a record or not, you stand out—because people can count on you. Just show up.”

When you think about it, showing up doesn’t always feel like setting a Major League Baseball record, or making a big investment in another person. More often it feels like doing the bare minimum. It’s having a decent attendance record so you can graduate from high school. It’s going to weddings and funerals. It’s going to work when you’re not feeling well because your team needs you. Simply put, if you aren’t present in the lives of others, how can you expect to have a positive influence on them?

I decided long ago that I would become the Cal Ripken, Jr. of showing up for friends and family who are going through a tough time. I wanted that streak to become my legacy. When my best friend from high school, Corey, got divorced a few years ago, I called him every day for a year. I told him he was a good man and that he would get through this. Sometimes we talked about the divorce and sometimes we did not.

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