A couple weeks ago I got to meet one of my heroes, Bob Goff. He's a hard guy to miss. A 6'4 giant with an infectious smile and laugh, Bob can light up any place — even a funeral. When I walked up to him and extended my hand, he declined. He went in for a bear hug instead. "I don't do handshakes, only hugs," Bob said.
That one gesture really encapsulates the way Bob does life. He doesn’t settle for anything — he goes all in, all the time. I mean, just look at his life. He works as a lawyer and a college professor. On his “spare” time, he serves as the Honorary Consul for Uganda and also oversees Restore International, a non-profit founded to combat injustices against children in different parts of the world. Shaping the next generation of leaders and saving the world at the same time? No big deal.
I’m just barely scratching the surface here. Read his NYT best-selling book, Love Does. His life is so chock-full of stories and adventures that it almost reads like a cross between Huckleberry Finn and Gulliver’s Travels. (Note to Dos Equis, you picked the wrong guy for your Most Interesting Man commercials.)
But here’s the main reason I mention Bob. As amazing as he is, he also seems quite...regular. Like any one of us. Just a simple, down-to-earth kind of guy who likes to smile a lot. So, what makes him so different?
Love.
Bob is fueled by an amazing capacity to love. “Some people walk through life thinking they are defined by their failures or successes,” Bob said. “I’m here to tell you that’s baloney. You are defined by the way you love.” He lives this philosophy at full tilt in every part of his life. Bob is able to love extravagantly because he knows he has been a recipient of unconditional love. As a result, Bob loves strangers, weirdos, and yes, even his enemies.
The point is this: you don’t have to be an extremely “gifted” person to do extraordinary things. You just have to go out there and love people, in both ways big and small. Even when you don’t feel like it. Even when you feel like you’ve run out of ways to show it. Just keep on loving. Because you never know who’s out there that might need it most.
Sometimes, the most influential people are those who keep things simple. I thank Bob for reminding me about what it means to live life right, and that we all can make a difference in this world.