I See Dead People
The Sixth Sense was a movie that came out in 1999 about a boy who communicates with spirits that don’t know they’re dead. Had I known this was such a marketable trait, I would have promoted myself as a real life Cole Sear - the kid in the movie with his own dead people sight-seeing tour.
I have this ’thing’ I do when I go out into the general public. Whether it’s dinner, the playground with my kids, a park, grocery store - anywhere USA. I smile at every person I see and say “hello” - I know, it’s crazy. What an utterly absurd thing to do but I still do it - determined that one day a dead person will respond.
I never realized I had this unique ability to see the dead until I contracted the disease of being grateful for waking up each day. I was first diagnosed with gratitude-itis in the late 90’s. I was ten years or so into my corporate career and decided that I was pretty damn lucky to have my health, a good job that pays my bills and woke up on the right side of the ground each day. As my happy meter contiued to rise my ability to see dead people took on a life of it’s own (bad pun, if that’s even a pun - just go with me). At work each day I would respond to “How’s it going, Sam” with “Fired up!” “Excellent!” “Never better!” and the corpses would look at me with their lifeless bodies and keep walking mumbling something to themselves.
I thought the only dead people I saw were in the workplace. No sir - they were everywhere. I would go to lunch, almost skipping down the street, thanking God I wasn’t one of the billion people on earth who slept on a dirt floor with no roof the night before. Then I would stand in line for take-out and just soak in the dead-ness. They were everywhere.
In 2005 I was never more grateful than when I lost everything - EVERYTHING - after a business deal went bad. What did I do? Launched Every Day Is Saturday and stayed true to my promise to my three year old daughter that I would be there for her. I would make her breakfast in the morning, drive her to school, pick her up from school, be at the dinner table with her and put her to bed at night.
I never once thought of becoming part of the walking cemetery outside my home. As the saying goes “Most people die at the age of 25, it’s just takes 50 years to bury them.” I believe it.
I’m speaking to 1200 people in Honolulu next month. It’s a 4hr presentation. Funny how a kid from a town of 8,000 people who stuttered till his high school years will be speaking to over a 1,000 champions. I’m so grateful for what I have and what I’ve become - you have no idea. I’d be grateful if I was speaking to one person in the produce section of Kroger for 5 minutes. I’d be grateful if I caught someone in the halllway of church and encouraged them for just a few minutes to chase their dream and not listen to the naysayers.
Unfortunately, for some strange reason - dead people will not let motivation penetrate their exterior. Some have been beaten down for so long they have given up hope that a better life exists. Where I live we call ourselves Americans. The last four letters of the word American are I Can. People are not climbing under fences to get to Mexico. They are not building rickety rafts to float to Cuba. For some strange reason people are killing themsleves to get to the country where I live. That tells me I may be in the right place at the right time.
The cemetery is filled with millions of people who died with the music still in them - you can hear a symphony playing if you listen closely. Don’t be one of those people. It’s ok to be dead when you’re in the cemetery - not much choice. But it’s not ok to be dead while you’re still above ground. Make a list of all the things going right in your life, stop focusing on everything that may not be perfect. Expect to have a great day today.
When you smile, laugh and sing and have and awesome outlook on life you’lll soon see the “old you” looking back at you. You’ll begin seeing dead people. Your mission is to help them see that in themselves, don’t let them die with the music still in them.
You are a Champion
Sam Crowley
http://www.EverydayIsSaturday.com
