In Tune With Life

 

In Tune With Life

 

H

e never spoke of it as reinventing himself. He simply found another way to be useful and earn a living.

 

 

Pat stood at the door. My mild-mannered hunting dog (Rusty) barked incessantly on the other side. Pat offered Rusty a rawhide treat after he walked in and the two immediately became friends. “It’s amazing what a little food would do,” was Pat’s remark. Pat was an “old pro” when it came to visiting homes where man’s best friend was in residence and shedding his coat and hat, and dropping his backpack, he went to work. I have known Pat for at least a decade, and I consider him more a friend than a tradesman. Today he had time just to talk.

Pat, self-employed, told me he had been in business for forty-eight years. In the early days, he might have made six or even seven stops a day, but the work could be tiring so his average now is three per day. “Have you met any famous people” I asked. “Oh yes, many, ” came Pat’s reply.”  Do you have many autographs? was my follow-up question. “Oh, no, absolutely not. If you asked for an autograph, you would be quickly shown the door. Tradesman just do not approach the “Stars.”

Pat had been a professional musician. He played in his high school and upon graduation, he joined different bands. He supported himself for years by playing gigs at supper clubs, weddings, dances, and socials events, but over time live bands slowly started to fall out of favor with the advent of the DJ. (The DJ evolved from radio personalities who introduced and played individual selections of recorded music.)  Pat had to find another way to earn a living – preferably something that involved music. And he did.

“I love what I do,” Pat said. I make people happy when I leave; I do not consider it to be work; it is more like fun.”

Pat trained to become a piano tuner and during Pat’s one-half-century career he tuned an unbelievable 38,000 pianos. Even more amazing is that Pat does not play the piano.

He is a drummer.

Pat and I exchanged goodbyes. I was happy.

 

Epilogue:

To overcome challenges, sometimes you simply have to discover what works for you—what truly matters. Instead of struggling to climb higher on the rungs of a conventional ladder of success, you take smaller, practical steps forward rather than upward. By focusing on what you can still do rather than what you cannot, and on purpose rather than pride, obstacles begin to look differently —more like as problems to solve. You’re not starting over—you’re using the talents God has given you and your experience to find another  way to keep going.

 “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”     C.S. Lewis