Speaker 1: 0:01

Hello, welcome back to another episode of Train for a Great Life. I'm going to talk about generosity and giving and the idea that you get back more than you give and you don't always know how it's going to play out. So I'm actually going to just tell a story that's really kind of stuck with me and had an impact on me from just over 12 years ago. So the story is from a family trip in Cuba. Lacey's family Lacey's the youngest of six and one of the things that her parents have done for a long, long time is their gift to their kids and like trickle down to each family is that we do a trip around Christmas time and that's their gift to the family, and so it keeps everybody together rather than doing things separately. It's really cool, um, so this is from uh, 2013, just before new year's, and, um, that was a cool trip, cause we got engaged, uh as well. I think like one or two days prior to this story where I asked Lace to marry me in Cuba, like a nervous wreck. That's another story. So Cuba now and then was a very just, safe place to be, like it's. There's places in the world that you travel to where you don't go exploring and you don't go off resort and all that stuff, and this wasn't one of those places. So that that gives you a little bit of context. Um, I just decided to take a bike from the resort and and I just kind of went exploring for a little bit. Um, there wasn't really like the. I wasn't going to get myself lost because we're basically on like a main road out in the middle of nowhere uh, cuba, right. So it was like drive this way and then come back. Um, and so I ended up stopping at a gas station not too too far away and I just pulled in and I grabbed. I grabbed a beer. I believe it was a Cristal, the, if you're familiar with Cuban beer.

Speaker 1: 2:17

And while I was there I was kind of planning on being in and out I met a guy. I met an older gentleman. I don't know how old he was he was probably younger than he looked because, I mean, he was very weathered and his name was Pablo and we just kind of got talking while I was there and I bought him a beer and we sat down and we kind of chatted for a little while and it was really neat. And then he told me he wanted to show me his, his home, like we, we got, um, we got talking. Like you know, I told him I was here with a bunch of family and this and that and uh, yeah, I mean in this probably sounds so crazy to some people listening, but in the context of everything, um, I wasn't worried about it.

Speaker 1: 3:15

And so we start walking, uh, we crossed the road and we kind of start walking up the, up the, up the road, and this dog comes running up beside us and he's like oh, that's my dog, like you, you know, just out loose and everything. And we kind of veer off the road and we go over this hill and and down and in behind and, um, there's this, there's this house. And when I say a house, I mean like it was the size of like a large shed, maybe like a, not even a large garage. I mean people have garages that are bigger than this. It was all cinder block. Uh, there was no doors and no windows. There were shoes and um items of clothing drying on the on the roof and he, he was so proud of this and and he told me, um, his mother lived with him. He had two kids and a wife that lived with him and we walked in and there were three rooms and they were all again in the context of like a North American house. They were three small rooms. One was where everyone slept, one was kind of an entry and I'm sure there spill over of people sleeping, and then the other was the kitchen and, um, I, just what I remember from this was just how proud he was to show me and how he was nothing but just happy and joy. Um, it was like such a simple life and it was beautiful. And so, anyway, he shows me his place and we're continuing talking.

Speaker 1: 4:54

And there's a thing in Cuban culture, having been there around New Year's multiple times, cubans basically like pile their resources and they go big with New Year's and they do a big pig roast and that, and so anyway, we get talking about that because you could see people starting to prep for it. And he invited, he wanted to invite me back, and this this is where I told him like I'm here with like 25 people, like you don't understand, and he didn't care. He said I want to invite you all back. And I was pretty blown away and I didn't really know how to answer. So I, you know, after a while I just I got on my bike and I went back to the resort and I didn't really know how to answer. So I, you know, after a while I just I got on my bike and I went back to the resort and I told everybody about this and uh, and we came up with an idea. Um, you know, I suggested that let's go back. But, like, let's let, he's not going to feed us all, we're not going to eat all his food. We, oftentimes, traveling to that area, we brought, we brought clothes to give away and baseball gloves and stuff like that, and so we brought all this stuff and we brought enough money to pay for more than the pig. And so we all went back, we, we all. I can't even remember if we we must've taken cabs, I think, like, cause we didn't all get on bikes.

Speaker 1: 6:30

There's parts of this story that I don't like. I remember the important parts, but I don't remember how we got there. But we got there and he was just so gracious and he was literally prepared to feed us all, so gracious and he was literally prepared to feed us all. And, um, just that, him putting that out there, we paid for the whole thing, for for them to. You know they're going to have leftovers and whatever, for they're going to have a lot of food, uh, and and a bunch of stuff and and it was the coolest thing, and uh, and so we didn't hang around. For me, we hung around for maybe an hour, um, you know, we got to meet the rest of his family and everything, and then uh, and then we went back.

Speaker 1: 7:12

So, again, what I, what I take from this is there there's a couple of things and I think I've touched on them is just giving, even when you feel like you may not have, like what was what he was going to feed us, it's, it's, it's hospitality, that's what it is, and then Just the sense of how, how happy and how joyful he was. I think when we keep life more simple and don't get caught up in, I mean, what a lot of North American life is, it's just chasing things and it's not necessarily what's gonna make us happy, and we're not wired that way. So I hope you've enjoyed the story. I'm gonna try to dig up happy and it's not. We're not wired that way. Um, so I hope you've enjoyed the story. I'm going to try to dig up a picture for it as well, um, so yeah, uh, I'll see you in the gym.