Skip to main content

The Idea of Service

In the episode, The Idea of Service . . .



“All of our income, tangible and psychic, of any kind, comes to us from making the best use of What We Are - as learning, growing, thinking, imagining, productive creatures in the service of others.”


Have you ever considered how the fate of one person has influenced your life for the better?


Allow me to introduce you to that person and how, through serving others, he changed the lives of countless millions.

Recently, as a volunteer for the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum, we launched an educational initiative on YouTube titled "The Inside Loop." Using the computer interface, Zoom, we can conduct interviews with retired U.S. Marines (in their homes) from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

This got me thinking about a former Marine who served during WWII on the USS Arizona, which was attacked on December 7, 1941, in Pearl Harbor. Killed were 1,177 of the 1,512 crewmen on board at the time; he was one of only 15 marines to survive the attack that day. His name is Earl Nightingale.

While in the Marine Corps, Earl was allowed to volunteer at the local radio station as an announcer. This is what eventually sparked his desire to move to Chicago and explore his newfound “broadcasting career.”

In Chicago, he began hosting his own daily commentary program on the huge, 50,000-watt clear channel, WGN radio. Earl's career spanned over 40 years, and from 1950 to 1996, he was known as the voice of the hero in the popular action-adventure series 'Sky King,' which also aired on WGN radio.

During that time, he authored a book, The Strangest Secret, which has been hailed as “one of the great motivational books of all time.”

He then went on to narrate this book in 1956. It was the first audio recording to achieve gold record status (over one million copies sold).

What captured my attention, as a young boy, was Earl Nightingale’s daily five-minute program, “Our Changing World,” which aired in 1959, five minutes a day, five days a week during that 40-year span. The program was heard on over a thousand radio stations, it was the most widely syndicated program of its time.

Subsequently, those five-minute segments would be compiled and distributed as a digital audio download,  The Essence of Success.

I’ve made those segments a part of my life for over 55 years. So allow me to quote once again Earl's Idea of Service,

“All of our income, tangible and psychic, of any kind, comes to us from making the best use of What We Are - as learning, growing, thinking, imagining, productive creatures in the service of others.”

This is Patrick Ball. Thanks for listening. See you in the next episode.

Comments

Most Popular of All Time

Finding Our Place

In this episode,  Finding Our Place: Hope and Humanity in the Age of AI . . . Yesterday, I overheard a conversation that echoed a question many of us are quietly asking: In a world increasingly shaped by algorithms, where do we , as humans, truly fit in? My younger colleagues, sharp and driven, were "joking" about AI taking their jobs. Their concerns felt valid, prompting me to reflect. Will machines really replace us? My answer, unequivocally, is No . And here’s why. What makes us uniquely human isn't merely our ability to perform tasks. It's our innate capacity for creativity and our deep-seated need to serve others. These aren't just abstract ideas; they are the very essence of what gives meaning to our lives and work. While AI excels at processing data and automating tasks with incredible speed, it cannot replicate the spark of human ingenuity. It lacks the empathy to truly understand unspoken needs or the intuitive synergy that fosters breakthrough solutio...

Chasing the Magic

In this episode, Chasing the Magic: How the Summer of ’98 Inspired the 'Ball Boys' . . .  Do you remember that feeling? The late-summer air was thick with humidity, radios crackling on porches, the smell of fresh-cut grass and barbecue smoke in the backyard. Every evening carried a new kind of suspense—the country holding its collective breath after every pitch. “Did he hit one today?” became more than a question; it sparked a nationwide conversation.   For me, and millions of others, the summer of 1998 wasn’t just another baseball season. It was theater, a movement, a time when the game recaptured something sacred. As sportswriter Mike Lupica said so perfectly,   “No matter how old you are or how much you’ve seen, sports is still about memory and imagination. Never more than during the summer of ’98, when baseball made everyone feel like a kid again, when it felt important again.”    Just four years earlier, the 1994 players’ strike had left the sport bruised...

The Curious Crew

In today's special episode, The Curious Crew . . .  Oh, our young folks are ready, with AI so grand, A new era of wonders across every land! With curious minds, vast as Space, full of creative delight, And a zest for exploring, with all of their light! They welcome new tools, with a gleam in their eye, To learn and to grow, way up to the sky! Our thinking's a marvel, a clever design, We make new plans, so fantastically fine! With problem-space maps and memories, too, We build new ideas, quite fresh and quite new! With smiling faces, showing gratitude's grace, We find our own wonderful, human-filled place! Sharing a meal with generosity and love, A warm human spirit, a gift from above! We stand tall together, collaborate, and help with a grin, For with Agentic AI, together we win! Not machines all alone, but with us by their side, We'll create and serve, with nothing to hide! I'm Patrick Ball. Stay curious and ask questions. See you next time.

The Sights of Summer

In this episode, The Sights of Summer: Chasing Miles & Unexpected Smiles . . . For Lori and me, the perfect summer morning isn't something you find marked on a calendar; it's a feeling . It's the refreshing crispness of the air on our faces, the gentle warmth of the sun on our skin, and the exciting anticipation of discovering new miles and uncovering the hidden "sights of summer" along our journey. A glorious California day returns with our weekly ride. We begin with a warm-up cruise around our neighborhood under a wide, cloudless, azure sky. With a smile, I’m thinking, " You know it’s going to be a great ride when even furry co-pilots are excited!"  We chuckled as a neighbor drove past, two white, fluffy dogs with their tongues flapping in the breeze and ears flopping wildly out the truck window. Pure canine bliss—an ideal sign for a fun day on two wheels. “Did you see those pups? They looked like they were smiling.” Traffic was blissfully light, ...