Are you admiring the right people?

A few Saturdays ago, my wife noticed a man cleaning the gutters of the house next door. She asked him how much this would cost?

He had very little English but told her he would inform his boss. That evening, his boss knocked at our door and agreed to have the job done the following day.

The next day at 9 am sharp, the man who my wife had spoken to first arrived. He put his ladders up and immediately got to work.

It was a terrible day, with rain drizzling down and a cold wind blowing outside. At 11 am, the heavens opened and a terrible rain shower came down.

I went outside to see where the man was. He was getting a bit of shelter at the side of our shed. I asked him to come in out of the rain. He said, in broken English, that he was ok.

After a bit of coaxing, I got him to come in for a bit of warmth and shelter. I made him a cup of tea and a sandwich.

I asked him where he was from and what brought him to Ireland. Telling me in his broken English, I found out, he comes from a part of the world that doesn’t offer the same opportunities, we are so lucky to have in Ireland, and don’t always appreciate! He said there was little work to be got in his own country.

I remembered my own dad telling me how he and so many others went to England for work in the 50s.

The man told me he had two daughters who still lived in his homeland. He was working in Ireland, to get the money to educate and give them a better chance in life.

After the rain subsided, he went out to finish off the job of cleaning out the gutters, most of this, he was doing by hand. It took him most of the day to do this.

After giving him a generous tip, his boss arrived to get paid for the job. He said goodbye and headed off in his boss’s van.

I couldn’t help but have huge admiration for this man and what he was prepared to do, to make a better life for his family.

In my experience, all successful people begin with two beliefs:

1. The future can be better than the present

2.  I have the power to make it so

Are you admiring the right people in your life?