Mark Ballard: Touching people’s lives can recharge your battery
As I plugged my mobile phone into its charger, a large battery lit up on the screen to let me know that the charging process had begun. At one end on the graphic image of the battery was a thin sliver of red. To be fully charged, the whole battery needed to be a bright green. I had just about used my entire battery’s power. It had to be recharged.
Walking away from the charging phone, I said to myself, “That is exactly what we all need in order to recharge our inner batteries — a place to go get enough energy to go from red to green.” We depend on our inner batteries to give us enough energy to make it through each and every hectic day. Since there is no place on us to be plugged into a wall, I started thinking about the ways that my personal batteries become recharged.
This past weekend while I stood in my booth at Christmas Made in the South, without even realizing it, my batteries were going from a dull red to a bright lime green. Being in contact with my fans and faithful column readers always gets me “charged” back up! With each conversation I had, my battery became more green.
I am the luckiest person in the world to be able to do what I love for a living. I definitely realize this and give thanks for this gift on a daily basis. To do what I love would certainly be within itself enough, but I also receive a wonderful bonus. Not in the form of money, but something far greater. I am able to reach and touch a lot of the people around me, and sometimes I forget exactly how much until I hear from the masses of people at a public event such as this past weekend.
“I have the exact set of Tupperware measuring cups as the ones you got from your mother!” a lady said to me with a smile on her face that seemed to reach from ear to ear. “In fact, they are orange just like yours!” she continued. Another lady suggested that we must be kin because apparently we have the same mother and grandmother. “My mother made a chocolate cake exactly like the one you wrote about,” another woman said while trying to hold back her tears. “She died before I was able to get her to write it down, so thank you for giving me that recipe and, most of all, that memory.”
I lost count of the people who have plastic bowls that were left with scars from too close encounters with heating elements in the dishwasher. Or the ones who still have their mother’s baking pans, cake plates or other utensils. “Thank you so much for allowing me to go back in time and visit with my relatives,” a man told me as he firmly shook my hand. “You will never know what that meant to me!” One lady shared with me how she had once also helped someone in need and wanted nothing in return. The smile on her face alone told me exactly how much her good deed had blessed her.
Story after story continually flowed from each mouth like water from a faucet as I stood in my booth last weekend. It was as if I had given all these people a magical key to unlock the door in their minds where memories are stored. Simply because of something I wrote, they experienced joy. And, had I not had the opportunity to see them in person, I may have never known it.
Energy is transferred in many ways and sometimes plugs are not even needed. Just standing there and listening to these people from all walks of life recount their past, I was the one becoming recharged. The power of one person’s positive energy being transferred to another cannot be contained in any power plant or kept grounded by any wires. It is a very wonderful and powerful gift we all have the ability to share with others.
One thing I have found out as I get older, we are all more similar than we even know. The columns I write about my past are actually mirrors that cause people to reflect back to theirs. With each story I heard, I realized lots of people were raised just like me and that made me smile.
It doesn’t matter what we do for a living, where we live or what we own, everyone receives extra strength and energy when positive words are shared. Even though I was very tired after the long weekend at the show, I returned home recharged, energized and ready to go forward because of the comments and positive energy people gave me. My inner battery was lime green again.
The next time you plug in an appliance or charge any batteries, think about giving some of your energy to someone else who really needs it. It is free and you don’t even have to have a plug or an electrical outlet! Brighten someone else’s day this week. In doing that, you will be the one who is energized!
More with Mark
Ÿ It came to my attention at the show this past weekend that many of you are not aware that I have published a new book of my columns that have appeared over the years in The Telegraph. It, just like my column, is titled, “Creative Thinking with Mark Ballard.” If you would like to order a copy, simply go to my website, www.markballard.com, or call (478) 757-6877.
Ÿ Mark will be visiting Milledgeville at 7 p.m. Thursday for a Christmas program at The Savior’s Touch Book Store, 130 Log Cabin Drive. For ticket information, call Becky Worthy at (478) 452-3015.
Ÿ Mark will be bringing his holiday program to Butler from 10 a.m.–noon Saturday. He will be at the Taylor County Primary School Auditorium. For ticket information, call (478)862-2025.
Ÿ Check out Mark’s website, www.markballard.com, for current projects, recipes and lots of other fun stuff and Mark’s T-shirts, prints, cards and his collectible porcelain plates.
Ÿ Mark is on www.macon.com 24 hours a day. Videos, columns and articles are featured.
Mark Ballard’s column runs each week in The Telegraph. Send your questions or comments to P.O. Box 4232, Macon, GA 31208; fax them to (478) 474-4930; call (478) 757-6877; e-mail to markballard@cox.net; or become part of Mark’s fan page on Facebook.
This story was originally published November 11, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Mark Ballard: Touching people’s lives can recharge your battery."