DIFFERENCE MAKERS? THE SAUNA KNOWS

Difference makers and white knights. Same thing?

No. A white knight is a force for good; a difference maker can go either way.

The main problem is where to find a white knight.

I haven’t seen one riding around town lately, but I think they hang out in a sauna.

How to know?

A white knight takes the time to look after others.

Who are those others? It starts with family, wives and husbands, kids and dogs.

How often do you meet people one time and decide who they are based on first impressions?

I’ve had the good luck to meet people I wish I’d grown up with because they remind me of people I grew up with.

Except for the time and distance they all would have been friends.

Two guys recently qualified, which inspires me to be better.

The first one builds cities; the second makes wine and collects Pulitzer Prizes.

One speaks in a quiet voice, which in my experience shows he’s spoken to people straining to hear his words.

The other is a listener with enough skill to know when he’s heard enough and move on with an unspoken agreement.

They are difference makers and white knights in similar packaging separated by ten years.

 

The Sauna Difference Makers

Sometimes life comes at you in waves.

What if it’s a heat wave?

A 190 degree sauna cancels a 90 degree day.

90 is the new 70 when you come out of the hot box.

Do white knights like it hot? They do.

 

Knights: It’s hot in here.

Me: Real hot, probably getting hotter.

Knights: Feels good.

Me: Like a sauna should.

Knights: Remind us why this is a good idea.

Me: It clears your mind to focus on important things.

Knights: It’s 210 degrees.

Me: That’s an important thing.

 

Three Kinds Of Sweat

Here’s what I’ve noticed:

Sauna sweat is different than cardio sweat, which is different than weight lifting sweat.

One is passively breathing in hot air while being enveloped in hot air that spikes with each splash of water on the hot rocks.

The heat from that move rolls across the ceiling at head height and bakes your hair until you think, ‘that’s enough.’

Walking or running sweat is more of a breathing deal when exertion sweat kicks in.

Lifting weights is muscle sweat.

They all start at different times.

White knights embrace each activity and apply the positive results to the rest of their lives.

Were the city builder and wine maker, difference makers through and through, also white knights?

After careful analysis the results are in: Yes, they are, with one distinction.

I met them both through another difference maker. It’s kind of funny how that works, one connecting to another. (Hey Barry)

When you sort through the people in your life, reviewing eras as I do, you come to a few conclusions.

My conclusion? I’m lucky.

Lucky to have an out-going wife with great interests in the wider world.

Where I’m a ‘look in a grain of sand and see the universe’ kind of guy, she’s looking at the solar system, the Milky Way, and beyond.

She tells me I’m looking at sand, I tell her she’s looking at stars.

I’m lucky to know people who would enjoy each other’s company.

White knights meeting difference makers?

That’s a blog post I’m warming up to write.

Meet me in the sauna.