So this past week, some of my good friends got married, and I was the best man. As you know, that comes with a whole lot of responsibility and duties. Your whole job is to make the groom’s life and special day easier. This being my first wedding and all, I wanted to look and be my best. I was stressing about my haircut, my best man speech, my outfit, and everything under the sun about myself physically. Honestly, from how much we worried about how we looked, it seemed like all the bridesmaids and myself included, no shade intended, were getting married. But it dawned on me, this isn’t my day, nor do I want to make even an ounce of this day be about myself. I had to check my ego at that moment and realize why I was there and who I was there for. I was there to assist and make sure the two getting married enjoy the wedding of their dreams.

My duty for that day, no matter what, was to play my role.

This got me thinking about my life and how, on many occasions, people asked why I did or say these nice things. Sometimes saying, “You don’t owe anybody anything,” or “There was no need to do it in the first place.” And I respond, “Yes, that’s true, but I’m just playing my role in this instance.” It’s not that I feel an obligation to do so, but I feel it’s the right thing to do and would hope somebody would do the same for me down the road. I wouldn’t say I’m the definition of what a “Nice Guy” should be by any means, because I’m not perfect and I have flaws just like the rest, but my morals and reasoning for doing things aligns with what most would think a “Nice” person would be. I think we as individuals get caught up in ourselves so much that we sometimes forget that – as much as we want it to be – life isn’t always about us. Maybe it’s about us making somebody else’s day or life better for a moment. It all comes down to checking our egos and perspectives. If we do this, eventually, we play our roles.

For example, Lebron James, one of the world’s greatest basketball players, had hopes of making it to the NBA, and God allowed him to reach his dreams and do quite well and flourish. Even though Lebron accomplished his mission of making it to the NBA and doing well, he helped others along the way. For example, he got jobs for all of his close friends, helping make them and their loved ones richer and have better life experiences than if Lebron hadn’t made it to the NBA. Lebron even opened a school for low-income students in his hometown where students are disenfranchised the most because of the system and society we live in. So if you look at this situation from a spiritual perspective, one might say God allowed Lebron to be blessed to not only achieve his dreams but also to allow him to help others achieve their dreams and much more as well. This is all because, through all the fame and accomplishments that he has achieved and is still working on, Lebron played his role and made his life, and the lives of others, better.

So I say all of this to make you see that maybe everything isn’t about us, our losses, or our wins at the end of the day. Maybe these are just things that needed to happen so we could play our role in a situation or in someone’s life for the betterment of them, and maybe, in the end, ourselves eventually.