HEALTHY LIFESTYLE · APRIL 2017
YOU LOOK LIKE YOU NEED A HUG
Bernie Williams has been with the New York Yankees since 1991 , and that ' s longer than any other player on the fabled baseball team ' s current roster . The switch-hitting center fielder plays his defensive position gracefully to chase down what look for all the world like base hits and turn them into fly-ball outs .
Then he steps up to the plate with a piece of lumber in his strong hands . On any given pitch , he can crush an opposing pitcher ' s best offering into the seats of Yankee Stadium or any other ballpark in the major leagues . In last week ' s Game 5 of the American League Championship Series , he swung at a fastball and catapulted it into left-center field for a two-run homer in a 12-3 win over the Seattle Mariners that put the Yankees into the World Series again .
All right . You ' ve found me out . I ' m a baseball fan . And the you-either-love- ' em-oryou-hate- ' em Yankees have been my favorite team since I was a little boy . And I know Bernie Williams because he is a member of " my " team . But that ' s not really the point of why I brought up his name . Even if you don ' t like baseball or are a Yankee-hater , I think you ' ll like this story about Bernie .
In the midst of all the death , heartache , and tears of New York City after the events of Sept . 11 , manager Joe Torre took a van load of his players to a National Guard Armory . There , Families of the missing were supplying materials , they hoped would make possible DNA identification of their daughters , fathers , and siblings .
" We didn ' t know how we ' d be received , so we waited outside the armory in a van and had someone give us a feel of when to enter ," Torre said . " All of a sudden the people looked up and opened their arms to us . The most touching moment was when Bernie ( Williams ) went up to one woman and said , ‘ I don ' t know what to say , but you look like you need a hug .' And he hugged her ."
You ' re right . Bernie probably wasn ' t at risk for that hug , but you might be in today ' s workplace . Sexual harassment is sometimes imagined and often real . But there other ways to acknowledge and affirm our brothers and sisters in the human family . Handshakes , high-fives , memos , just a simple " Thank you ," or a sincere " Can I help ?" will do . There ' s not one of us who doesn ' t need the rest of us .
Playing professional baseball must be fun . Getting a game-winning hit has to be exhilarating . Encouraging and comforting fellow-strugglers is sacred .
YOU ' LL SEE SOMEONE TODAY WHOSE HEART NEEDS A LIFT . HUG YOUR MATE . HIGH-FIVE A BUDDY . WELCOME THE NEW PERSON . IT WILL BE A SPIRITUAL MOMENT FOR YOU BOTH .
By Rubel Shelly
16 HEALTHY MAGAZINE