0:01

you know Coach's

0:37

rules have nothing to

0:39

do with basketball. He

0:42

drills it into us.

0:44

Taking care of other

0:47

people goes beyond this

0:50

game of basketball.

0:53

We reach out to

0:55

our fellow players. We

0:57

create a family. Something

0:59

shifts when I learn

1:02

that the Wii is

1:04

greater. than the me.

1:06

Growing up, Al Harris's

1:08

plan for his life

1:10

is clear, become a

1:13

professional basketball player,

1:15

and create a

1:17

legacy at the highest level

1:19

of the sport. But then,

1:22

at a decisive moment, he

1:24

is passed over for the

1:26

NBA draft. He won't

1:29

be playing at that

1:31

highest level after the

1:33

highest level after all.

1:35

In today's meditative story, Al

1:37

looks at a life he didn't plan

1:40

for, and uncovers how his true legacy

1:42

is not in his accomplishments,

1:44

but in the bonds he builds every

1:46

step along the way. In this series,

1:48

we combine immersive first-person

1:50

stories, breathtaking music, and mindfulness

1:52

prompts, so that we may

1:55

see our lives reflected back

1:57

to us in other people's

1:59

stories. And that can lead

2:01

to improvements in our own

2:04

inner lives. From way to

2:06

what? This is a meditative

2:08

story. I'm Rohan, and I'll

2:11

be your guide. The

2:36

body relaxed. The

2:38

body breathing. Your

2:41

senses open. Your

2:43

mind open. Meeting

2:46

the world. As

3:09

I step into the

3:11

backyard, I feel the

3:13

sun's warmth on my

3:15

face. I smell freshly

3:17

cut grass. And I

3:19

see a ton of

3:21

seven-year-olds running around and

3:23

playing. I'm only four.

3:26

But I'm tagging along

3:28

with my big brother

3:30

Anthony to his friend's

3:32

birthday party. My brother's

3:34

cool. He runs around

3:36

laughing and screaming with

3:38

the other kids. I

3:40

hang back closer to

3:42

the house, tossing a

3:44

ball with another shy

3:46

boy by the pool.

3:48

This time, when he

3:50

lobs it back, the

3:52

ball lands short in

3:54

the water. I reach

3:56

out without thinking. Next

3:58

thing I know... splash!

4:00

I'm in the pool. I don't

4:03

know how to swim. But

4:05

I'm calm. I see bubbles

4:07

near the surface. Make out

4:09

the movement of kids. None

4:12

of them can swim

4:14

either, so they can't

4:16

get me. I squeeze

4:18

out a couple of breaths.

4:20

But then I start to

4:23

sink. The sounds from above

4:25

get quiet. Out of nowhere.

4:28

A gigantic arm grabs me

4:30

up by the shirt and

4:32

pulls me out of the

4:35

water. Dad's been sitting out

4:37

front, not wanting to leave

4:40

the birthday boy's overworked mom

4:42

on her own. He fishes

4:44

me out. I cough. I

4:46

sputter. The wet denim cleans

4:49

to my skin. So does

4:51

the embarrassment. After I change

4:53

into dry clothes, one of

4:56

the older kids walks up

4:58

to me. I'm glad you're

5:01

not dead, but now we

5:03

can't play outside near

5:05

the pool. Thanks a

5:08

lot, Al. After the

5:10

pool incident, I obsess

5:12

about dying. I lay

5:15

in bed at night

5:17

and wonder, what the

5:19

heck does it even

5:21

feel like to be dead?

5:24

Do I just go to

5:26

sleep? Am I in

5:29

the sky? Is there

5:31

really a heaven? At

5:33

school, I read about

5:36

my favorite president at

5:38

the time. Abraham Lincoln.

5:40

That was before we

5:43

had President Obama. Lincoln

5:45

freed enslaved people. He's

5:48

a great man. A

5:50

hero. But he deals

5:52

with the same exact

5:55

fear. He comes up

5:57

with a strategy for conquering death. to

6:00

live a life so great

6:02

that he's talked about for

6:04

generations and generations to cheat

6:06

death in a sense by

6:08

building a legacy that will

6:11

live on. The thought is

6:13

electrifying. If I'm talked about

6:15

for generations, if I leave

6:17

my own lasting legacy, then

6:19

I too can cheat death.

6:21

I decided to make that

6:23

my plan for my whole

6:26

life like Abe Lincoln.

6:28

I'll live a life

6:31

so big, I'll accomplish

6:33

something, so legendary, that

6:36

I'll live forever in

6:38

people's minds. All my

6:41

accomplishments center around the

6:43

game of basketball. When

6:46

I'm 11, I surprise

6:48

my dad by knocking

6:51

on his door, morning

6:53

after morning at 5.

6:56

and ready for him

6:58

to drop me at

7:01

the gym to practice.

7:04

I dribble the ball

7:06

in my front yard

7:09

at all hours. Every

7:11

day. One night, after

7:14

sundown, my neighbor hits

7:16

a breaking point. She

7:19

sticks her head out

7:21

and screams at the

7:24

top of her lungs.

7:27

Stop dribbling that damn

7:29

ball! I'm obsessed. I

7:31

don't have any other

7:34

interests. I don't even

7:36

hang out with my

7:38

friends. At age 16,

7:40

my favorite thing to

7:42

do at nine o'clock

7:44

on a Saturday night

7:46

is to shoot hoops.

7:49

I take the game

7:51

more seriously and practice

7:53

harder than anyone I

7:55

know. Basketball

7:57

becomes more than just in himself.

8:00

I go shoot some hoops.

8:02

All my confidence comes.

8:04

I shoot free throws.

8:06

When the girl I

8:08

like says no to

8:10

a date. I go

8:12

shoot some hoops. All

8:14

my confidence comes from

8:17

the sport. I'm super

8:19

competitive with my teammates.

8:21

All my confidence comes

8:23

from the sport. I'm super

8:25

competitive with my teammates. and

8:28

trying to score the most

8:30

points every game. Coach sees

8:32

this and he does something

8:34

crazy. He lays out an

8:37

amazing set of rules for the team.

8:39

He writes them down and hands them

8:41

out to all of us. If your

8:43

teammate comes to school and he

8:45

doesn't have lunch and you don't

8:47

share yours with them, that's

8:49

punishable on the team. If your teammate

8:52

is doing something he shouldn't and

8:54

you don't split it up and

8:56

look after him. then you're not

8:58

a good teammate. Coaches

9:01

rules have nothing to

9:03

do with basketball.

9:05

He drills it into

9:07

us. Taking care of

9:09

other people goes beyond

9:12

this game of basketball.

9:14

We reach out to our

9:17

fellow players. We create a

9:19

family. Something shifts when I

9:21

learn that the we is

9:24

greater than the me. Coach

9:27

switches around my position.

9:29

He makes me play point guard.

9:32

And it's not my best position.

9:34

I scored 10 points less per

9:37

game. But I make plays for

9:39

the rest of my team that

9:41

turns everything around. Coach's

9:43

philosophy has us going

9:46

from losing games to a

9:48

21 game winning streak. It lands

9:50

us in the state championship

9:52

at the Arco Arena

9:54

in Sacramento. I look

9:56

over to the opposing

9:58

team's bench. power over

10:01

us. We're heavy under

10:03

dogs. The score remains

10:05

tight throughout. We're shoulder-to-shoulder,

10:08

battling for the win.

10:10

In the fourth quarter,

10:12

I release the game-winning

10:15

jumpshot. The entire town

10:17

erupts with joy. Big

10:19

group hugs. We rush

10:22

the stands full of

10:24

family, friends. people from

10:27

school and my hometown.

10:29

There's such jubilation from

10:31

everyone. This old lady

10:34

from the neighborhood comes

10:36

up to me, smiling,

10:38

cheek to cheek, and

10:41

asked me to cut

10:43

down a piece of

10:45

the championship net for

10:48

her. Our victory touches

10:50

so many more people's

10:52

lives than I ever

10:55

would have imagined. I've

10:59

learned to think about the

11:01

weed before the me. But

11:03

I'm still completely focused on

11:06

my own goal. The achievement

11:08

that will define my own

11:11

legacy. Becoming a pro basketball

11:13

player. My entire identity is

11:15

tied to the game. What

11:18

other 16-year-old is shooting baskets

11:20

at nine at night? It's

11:23

my singular focus. Who am

11:25

I without it? There is

11:27

no without it. I'm

11:29

in a no frills hotel room

11:31

in Cleveland Ohio. I'm here working

11:33

out with the Cleveland Cavaliers. They

11:35

want to get to know me to

11:37

see if I might be a

11:39

fit for their team. It's NBA draft

11:42

night. It's like the Oscars for

11:44

college basketball players, except with much bigger

11:46

stakes. If my name is called as

11:48

part of the program, I'm on

11:50

the path of becoming a pro athlete.

11:53

It will be the first of

11:55

my true accomplishments, the thing I'll be

11:57

remembered for. If my name isn't

11:59

called. then my legacy is dead in

12:01

the water. I have a good reason to

12:04

be hopeful. The Golden State Warriors,

12:06

the Phoenix Suns, the Houston Rockets,

12:08

the Portland Trailblazers, and others all

12:11

invited me to work out with

12:13

them so they can get to

12:15

know me. At practice with

12:17

the Los Angeles Clippers, I'm on

12:19

fire. I don't miss a single

12:21

shot. Now I'm watching the picks on

12:24

television and trying to play it

12:26

cool. I'm trying to fool myself

12:28

into believing that this is just

12:30

a regular night of TV and

12:32

not the moment I've spent the

12:34

past 22 years of my life preparing

12:37

for. Sweat pools under my arms

12:39

as I watch the announcers rattle

12:41

off names of the chosen ones. These

12:43

first picks are all guys I've heard of.

12:45

Their lives are about to change. I

12:47

won't be called till closer to the

12:50

end when it's time for the clippers

12:52

to announce their last pick. I have

12:54

to force my breath steady. The

12:57

dinner I picked up on the

12:59

way back after practice is

13:01

getting cold. I'm not

13:04

hungry. Now it's time

13:06

for the clippers to

13:08

announce their final pick.

13:10

The name I hear

13:12

isn't mine. But there are

13:15

still a few spots left

13:17

in the draft. I can

13:19

barely breathe. Again

13:21

someone else. One name

13:23

to go. It's another player.

13:26

My heart crumples in

13:29

on itself. How is this

13:31

possible? I worked

13:33

so hard for so

13:35

long. I've done everything

13:37

I was supposed to.

13:39

I want to stay

13:41

championship. I was player of the

13:44

year. I don't party and

13:46

I treat people well. Don't

13:48

I get to win? After

13:51

22 years of hard work.

13:53

And after all these sacrifices,

13:55

aren't I the guy who's

13:57

supposed to get his goal? I

13:59

don't have a plan B. I

14:01

was always told that a

14:03

plan B is just an

14:06

excuse for plan A, not

14:08

to work. I focus everything

14:10

on this one achievement. It

14:13

was basketball or nothing. And

14:15

now it's nothing. No achievement.

14:17

No legacy. Nothing to be

14:20

remembered for. How am I

14:22

going to hold my head

14:24

up? Who am I even?

14:35

Al's entire identity

14:37

is wrapped up

14:39

in his accomplishments.

14:41

Having them not work

14:43

out leaves him

14:45

without grounding. I've

14:47

faced it, so

14:49

many of us

14:51

have. At this

14:53

moment, tilt your head

14:56

back, spine upright,

14:58

chin up, jaw

15:00

soft. On

15:06

your next outbreath, let

15:09

go of the accomplishments

15:11

that define you. Just

15:13

be. Stark

15:39

sunlight slices through the window.

15:42

I lean over the window

15:44

sill and take in my

15:47

surroundings. I'm in my new

15:49

apartment. A nice two bedroom

15:52

in a tiny town in

15:54

Poland called Scorszellis. I look

15:57

outside. There are no sidewalks,

15:59

no fences. Just fields of

16:02

hay. It seems like anyone

16:04

could just build a house

16:07

wherever there's an open space.

16:09

This isn't how my life

16:11

was supposed to be. I

16:14

was supposed to be playing

16:16

for an NBA team in

16:18

Los Angeles making millions.

16:21

Every game broadcasts on

16:23

national TV. And now

16:26

I'm here. Playing for

16:28

a Polish basketball team

16:30

in a tiny village

16:32

that has two streetlights,

16:34

two intersections, and not

16:36

much else. My whole life, I've

16:39

been climbing and climbing. Now

16:41

I've landed with a thud.

16:43

Playing basketball in

16:45

Europe isn't an achievement.

16:47

It's a consolation prize.

16:50

I don't even fit in here.

16:52

I look so strange to

16:54

everybody, this six-foot-six

16:56

black guy. And being here,

16:58

filled with shame, I feel even

17:01

stranger myself. Staring out

17:03

my window and scourgellots,

17:05

an old woman with

17:07

a kerchief wrapped around

17:09

her head hangs her

17:12

laundry from a closed line

17:14

with clips. How does a

17:16

kid from Oakland, who barely

17:18

traveled out of the state,

17:21

land up here? Time slows

17:23

down. I

17:26

wonder when I'll see my

17:28

parents and friends again. The

17:30

old woman catches eyes with

17:32

me and gives me a

17:34

puzzled look. Something I'd receive

17:36

often in the coming months.

17:39

Followed by a warm smile. There

17:41

are a lot of foreign

17:43

ballplayers wandering around Eastern Europe

17:46

who are selfish and

17:48

obnoxious to the local

17:50

culture. Being here, they possess

17:52

a disdain. a disapproval of

17:54

their new surroundings. I see this in

17:57

players on my own team. And when I

17:59

first arrived... I feel disappointed too.

18:01

This little Polish town doesn't

18:03

look like the backdrop for

18:06

a legacy. It doesn't feel

18:08

like an achievement. And it's

18:10

tough. I'm a baby-faced 22-year-old.

18:12

I don't know myself from

18:14

myself. All my teammates are

18:17

significantly older than me. I'm

18:19

the rookie and I don't

18:21

get much respect. But as

18:23

the season goes on, my

18:25

old coach's lessons kick in.

18:28

treat others well. Think we,

18:31

not me. Create a family.

18:33

On the bus headed to

18:36

a game, it's a long

18:38

10-hour ride. No first-class flights

18:40

or five-star hotels here. I

18:43

make it a point to

18:45

talk to the American players

18:47

and the Polish players. I

18:50

intentionally reach out. At mealtime.

18:52

I try the roasted beats

18:55

that Polish players love and

18:57

the American players push away.

18:59

One day after practice, one

19:02

of my Polish teammates invites

19:04

me to come out. We

19:06

pile into this little blue

19:09

Volvo. There are four of

19:11

us and we're each well

19:14

over six feet tall. My

19:16

knees tuck up into my

19:18

nose as I fold into

19:21

the back seat. We

19:26

drive out of town and

19:28

onto a long dirt road.

19:31

Does this country have street

19:33

signs? Eventually, we arrive at

19:35

this ramshackle barn. At least

19:38

that's what I think it

19:40

is. It turns out to

19:42

be the home of an

19:44

older woman who now runs

19:47

a makeshift restaurant. She spent

19:49

all day making Pirogi, these

19:51

Polish dumplings. No one speaks

19:54

English. There are no English

19:56

signs. No English menus. My

19:58

teammates order for The

20:00

food is cheap and

20:03

outstanding. The woman dotes

20:05

on us and plies

20:07

us with dumpling stuff

20:09

with cheese and potato

20:11

and meat. I decimate

20:13

all the parochies she

20:15

puts in front of me.

20:17

I tell them how much I love

20:20

it. From this point on,

20:22

the Polish guys accept

20:24

me. They look out for me.

20:26

We're family. I'm still lost

20:29

in so many ways and I

20:31

rely on my new teammates to

20:33

show me around. Communication,

20:35

I start to realize, is so

20:38

much more than verbal. It's in

20:40

a look or a shake of the head,

20:42

a smile. I never would have imagined

20:44

I would ever pick up enough

20:46

Polish to catch on to little

20:49

jokes in a language whose letters

20:51

I can barely read, but I'm

20:53

watching and listening all the

20:55

time. and things start to

20:58

shift. I learned to find

21:00

my place wherever I am.

21:02

Before I leave the US, I'm afraid

21:04

to travel. I'm afraid

21:06

of anything too different.

21:09

When you're an American,

21:11

you never leave America.

21:13

So you always have these

21:15

feelings of, they won't understand

21:17

me, how will I survive?

21:19

How will I get around? But

21:22

then you realize. Every

21:24

town has a main street.

21:26

Every city has a church. Every

21:29

family has kids and

21:31

possessions they treasure at

21:34

home. I lose my fear

21:36

of traveling. And I gain

21:38

an insane amount of humility

21:41

for just how spoiled how

21:43

ridiculously spoiled

21:45

I am to be American.

21:48

I take so much for

21:50

granted. a dishwasher in my house,

21:52

and a full produce section at

21:54

the grocery store, and hospitals that

21:56

have any medicine you might need.

21:58

Things I think... are just normal,

22:01

I begin to realize are

22:03

very special. And I start

22:06

to feel lucky. But also

22:08

humble. I meet 16 and

22:11

17 year old kids who

22:13

speak three languages, better frankly

22:16

than I speak English. I

22:18

meet people who've been to

22:21

20, 30, 40 countries, and

22:23

I've been to three. I'm

22:26

a little embarrassed at how

22:28

little culture I possess. Poland

22:30

is just my first stop.

22:32

I moved from team to

22:34

team, league to league, city

22:36

to city, country to country,

22:38

in search of better offers.

22:41

I traveled to Germany, to

22:43

Greece, and eventually land in

22:45

Brindice, Italy. That's where I

22:47

meet Davaday. A 16-year-old Italian

22:49

kid who lives in my

22:51

building. He's talkative, genuine. and

22:53

thinks it's incredibly cool that

22:55

a basketball players moved in.

22:57

In Europe, I learned that

22:59

it's normal for three generations

23:01

to live together in an

23:03

apartment. In Davide's house, it's

23:05

his grandmother and his parents

23:07

with him and his sister.

23:10

I buy Davidea a slice

23:12

of pizza down the block

23:14

from our building. We stroll

23:16

around and he introduces me

23:18

to folks in the neighborhood.

23:20

He's a little boastful that

23:22

he's friends with an athlete.

23:24

Now, I'm open to new

23:26

experiences and new people, so

23:28

when his family invites me

23:30

to dinner, I accept. The

23:32

meal in their home is

23:34

like something from a major

23:37

motion picture. I arrive at

23:39

3 o'clock. I've learned a

23:41

few Italian words. Dabaday speaks

23:43

broken English. His sister's English

23:45

is better. We can't say

23:47

too much to each other,

23:49

but we smile and laugh

23:51

and eat and eat and

23:53

eat. The meal

23:56

begins with 15 plates

23:58

of antiposti. salads, some

24:00

thinly cut meats, fruit,

24:02

a rice dish, and

24:04

mushrooms. I pick out so

24:07

much, I don't realize there are

24:09

three other courses on the

24:11

way. The food, the warmth,

24:13

and his family's willingness to

24:16

be kind to a

24:18

random American who knows

24:20

no one in the country,

24:22

it blows me away. We begin

24:25

eating at three. It's 11

24:27

by the time I get home. It's

24:29

one of the best meals of my

24:32

life. A few months later,

24:34

my team plays in the Euro

24:36

Cup. I get Davadeh and his

24:38

family tickets to come see the

24:41

game. I wave out him from

24:43

the floor. His familiar grin

24:45

is enormous as he waves

24:47

back. I think back to that championship

24:50

game in high school

24:52

at the Arco Arena

24:54

in Sacramento. How happy everyone

24:56

was when we won. And

24:58

I realize now how happy

25:01

I've made Davenet, and how

25:03

it has nothing to do

25:05

with whether or not we win.

25:07

When my stay in Italy

25:10

is over and it's time

25:12

to say goodbye, I drop

25:14

off some jackets and some

25:16

of my official team gear

25:18

for Davenet. His mother

25:20

is in tears, and my heart

25:23

swells as well. We lost

25:25

the cup.

25:27

But

25:29

I

25:33

still

25:36

feel

25:40

like

25:43

a

25:47

champion

25:50

right

25:53

now.

25:57

Drop your attention into the

26:00

chest, the area around

26:02

the heart. And notice

26:05

what is here to

26:07

notice. However quiet. I

26:10

make up my mind

26:12

that if I'm not

26:15

going to leave a

26:17

legacy as the greatest

26:20

player on earth, I

26:22

have to do something

26:25

unique with my short

26:27

time on the planet.

26:30

I never forget that

26:32

I could slip and

26:35

die tomorrow. I'm exhausted

26:37

after 11 years of

26:40

being on the road,

26:42

playing international ball, and

26:45

moving country to country.

26:47

Everything feels like it's

26:50

starting to repeat itself.

26:52

I decide to retire at

26:54

age 33. and never play

26:57

the game professionally again. What

26:59

a strange, strange idea. But

27:02

it's time. My final game

27:04

is in Hold Hasharon, a

27:06

little town outside of Tel

27:09

Aviv, Israel. Before I go

27:11

into the locker room, my

27:14

girlfriend Mariah shares a surprise

27:16

with me. She reached out

27:19

to my teammates for the

27:21

past 11 years and put

27:23

together a video of them

27:26

saying goodbye. It's all these

27:28

faces from the sprinkles of

27:31

time who I haven't seen

27:33

in years. Face after face

27:36

from Poland, Germany, Greece, Italy,

27:38

and now Israel. I hear

27:41

a lot of, why are

27:43

you retiring, Al? I'm going

27:45

to miss you, Al. I

27:48

stopped the video halfway through,

27:50

so I don't burst out

27:53

into tears. I

27:55

don't want to show up to my final

27:57

game as an emotional wreck. Seeing

28:01

all those spaces from

28:03

across all the years,

28:05

the lives that I

28:07

touched and the lives

28:09

that touched me, it's

28:11

almost too much to take.

28:13

But it makes me realize

28:16

that I might just

28:18

have created a legacy

28:20

after all. On the

28:22

court, the sound of

28:25

squeaking sneakers and loud

28:27

cheers filled the arena.

28:29

fire. I scored 25

28:32

points. After in a

28:34

very small locker room and

28:36

a low level gym, I

28:38

tell my teammates, guys,

28:41

this is my last

28:43

game. I'm really glad

28:45

it was with you. I

28:47

appreciate it. And thanks

28:50

for letting me be a

28:52

part of this team.

28:54

You're really special. I

28:57

stroll out with no

28:59

hoopla. No news stories,

29:01

no social media. I know

29:03

now that life isn't

29:06

about winning championships.

29:08

It's about building

29:10

relationships. Mariah and I

29:13

head back home to

29:15

Oakland. I prepared every

29:18

day for 22 years

29:20

for the opportunity to

29:22

be drafted into the NBA.

29:24

It was my one chance

29:27

to leave a legacy and

29:29

cheat death like a blinking

29:31

and it didn't happen. I

29:33

failed. End of story. Or

29:36

perhaps it was the start

29:38

of an altogether different story.

29:40

Athletes are always motivated by

29:42

the numbers on the board,

29:45

but we're not the only

29:47

ones who keep scoring life.

29:49

Most of us do. Some

29:52

people count their money. Some

29:54

people count their achievements those

29:56

explicit acknowledgments of their talent

29:59

and potential and influence,

30:01

but there are other

30:03

equally important ways of

30:05

keeping score through the

30:07

lives we change, the

30:10

people we touch, the

30:12

experiences we embrace. After

30:16

an 11 year basketball

30:18

career, you'd think my

30:20

best memory was a

30:22

particular dunk or a

30:24

game shot, but instead

30:27

I think about the

30:29

way I build bonds

30:31

and build communities. People

30:34

appreciate how I move through

30:36

the world. I was a kid

30:38

who didn't know anything but

30:40

basketball and the achievements that make

30:42

up my legacy don't have

30:45

anything to do with my accomplishments

30:47

on the court, so I

30:49

forgive myself for not achieving my

30:51

first goal in life, and

30:53

I ask myself, what else

30:55

might I be missing on the planet? Everyone

30:58

I come across on my

31:00

journey feels like a branch in

31:02

the massive tree of life. When

31:06

I watch the video in Tel

31:08

Aviv, it shows me that the

31:10

tree I built is lush and thriving,

31:12

and when I watch this video,

31:14

it finally hits me. I

31:17

have permission to celebrate

31:19

my life because I've created

31:21

my own legacy, not

31:23

through my achievements but through

31:26

my relationships, through all

31:28

the people I've touched along

31:30

my journey, and all

31:32

the people who have

31:34

touched me. The thought of

31:37

death still terrifies me,

31:39

but not as much as

31:41

the thought of living

31:43

a small, constricted life. Here

31:48

I am, moving

31:50

through the world, taking

31:52

a different kind of

31:54

shot, building my legacy

31:56

through each connection I

31:59

make and Each experience

32:01

I embrace.

32:32

puree, pizza, and the level

32:34

of reflection and sensitivity

32:37

that many never get

32:39

even close to. Thank you Al

32:41

for such a wonderful story.

32:43

It's also a reminder, certainly

32:45

for me, that the things we

32:48

value in the end aren't always

32:50

what we expect to when

32:52

starting out. For our

32:54

closing meditation together, I

32:56

want to jump off two of Al's

32:59

lines that really stick with me.

33:01

And the first is

33:03

when he says, I

33:06

learn to find my

33:08

place wherever I am.

33:10

Where are you? With

33:12

eyes open or eyes

33:15

closed, use your senses

33:17

to connect

33:19

with the space around

33:22

you. Recognizing

33:24

that you are in a

33:26

place. A body mind

33:29

here. located

33:31

in space, finding

33:33

our place wherever

33:36

we are. Where

33:38

are you? Inviting

33:41

the attention to

33:43

settle into the

33:45

body. Letting go

33:48

of any

33:50

distractions that may

33:52

be here, and committing

33:55

to be present

33:58

in the body. Inviting

34:03

stability. Maybe it's

34:06

with the rhythm

34:08

of the breath.

34:10

Maybe it's in

34:13

the contact of

34:15

where you are

34:17

sitting or lying,

34:20

standing or moving.

34:22

Maybe it's in

34:25

the general sense

34:27

of calm. Connected.

34:29

Committed. Here. Finding

34:34

our place wherever

34:37

we are. Wonderful.

34:40

The second line

34:42

from Al's story

34:45

I want to

34:48

remind you of

34:51

is when he

34:53

says, I have

34:56

permission to celebrate

34:59

my life. It's

35:03

a celebration that recognizes

35:05

that his legacy is

35:07

not a stuffed trophy

35:09

cabinet, but a valued

35:11

network. A celebration of

35:13

the relationships he forged,

35:15

and all the people

35:17

inspired by him, and

35:19

those who have inspired

35:21

him in return. So

35:23

let's connect with our

35:25

own. We may not

35:27

be as well travelled

35:29

as Al ended up

35:31

being. But we are

35:33

in our own particular

35:35

way, the centre of

35:37

a network of people.

35:39

People we have helped,

35:41

been present for, have

35:44

supported. Sometimes in big

35:46

ways, often in tiny,

35:48

tiny ways that matter

35:50

all the same. Imagine

35:52

the network that you

35:54

will celebrate. For some

35:56

of you, this might

35:58

be visual. For some

36:00

of you, it might

36:02

be a feeling, or something

36:04

entirely different. We

36:07

all sit at the

36:09

centre of a community

36:11

across time and space,

36:13

where what connects

36:15

us are the qualities

36:18

of the heart, kindness,

36:20

trust, joy, the small stuff,

36:23

the small stuff, the big

36:25

stuff, the near the far.

36:28

The influence we've

36:31

just had today,

36:33

and that which

36:36

stretches back years.

36:38

Connecting with this

36:41

legacy, your legacy,

36:44

in whatever way

36:46

you can. But

36:48

remember, Al had

36:51

to give himself

36:53

permission to celebrate in

36:56

this way. So

36:59

we have to do so too. Often

37:01

we can feel we don't

37:04

deserve to celebrate our

37:06

life, we downplay our impact

37:08

and our influence. Not

37:10

today, not now. We can

37:13

recognise it and we

37:15

will celebrate it. And

37:28

while in a way we are

37:31

the centre of our network,

37:33

we are also a node

37:35

in others. And with

37:37

everyone in the

37:39

meditative story community

37:42

practicing together, we form

37:45

a mesh that covers

37:47

the world connections

37:50

of kindness and

37:52

inspiration that reverberate

37:55

with celebration.

37:58

We need outs. And

38:01

if this has been

38:03

helpful to you, even

38:05

in a small way,

38:07

then we're very pleased

38:09

to hear that. So

38:11

thank you Al for

38:13

being so, Al, and

38:15

thank you for being

38:18

so you. Take care,

38:20

okay? Meditative

38:39

story is a wait-work original.

38:41

Our executive producers are Darren

38:43

Triff and June Cohen. Jake

38:46

Punjabi is our supervising producer.

38:48

The series is produced by

38:50

Dorothy Abrams. Original music and

38:53

sound designed by Ryan Holiday.

38:55

Our script writers are Peter

38:57

Keckley, Florence Williams and Hannah

38:59

Brencher. Technical sport from Robin

39:02

Wise. Mixing and mastering by

39:04

Brian Pew. Special

39:09

thanks to Emily McManus,

39:11

Anna Pizino, Sarah Tarta,

39:14

Kelsey Capitano, Tim Cronin,

39:16

Sammy Opueta, Leah Ceramettis,

39:19

Colin Howaf, Cheneme is

39:22

a Quena, Charlie Menesas,

39:24

and Adam Heiner. And

39:27

I'm Rohan Gantilica, creator

39:29

of the Budafai meditation

39:32

app and your host.

39:34

to find the transcript

39:37

for this episode.