2. Making an effort to do the small things for others that sometimes turn out, unexpectedly, to be the moments that make the difference in a life.
Today I read a story on Facebook (posted below)...I was moved and inspired - it inspired me to remember to go out of my way to do little things for other. When I am focussed on my inner beauty I think to do the little things that take but a moment and may only last a moment, but which sometimes, occasionally, mean the world.
Once a long time ago I knew a woman who was feeling down. I didn't know her well, I had worked with her for a short time but wasn't anymore. I heard from someone else that she was feeling down and, on a whim, I bought a book by HH The Dalai Lama and I wrapped it up and dropped it off at her house. I didn't go in, just handed her the book and said that I was thinking of her and thought she might like it. I actually don't know what effect the book had, if any, on her happiness but we did develop, over time and in random moment of connection, a long term friendship that I value highly. We don't see each other very often, but when we do its wonderful. Recently she has been in a position to help me with a work issue, and she has gone out of her way to do that. Dropping that book off remains one of the things that I am proudest of in my life, because it shaped me - it helped me to become someone who does that stuff. It pushed me out of my comfort zone in a way that became part of how I now define myself. I am the person who does random acts of kindness and goes out of my way to help a friend or stranger. I am someone who will turn up on your doorstep with soup. I am someone who will give you a gift, for no reason, because its something you would like. I am someone who will stop to compliment someone when they don't expect it. Last week my nanny mentioned an old lady she knows who is living alone and although she can hardly walk, she is growing all her own food because she has little money and her adult kids are now far away. So I bought the old lady a months worth of groceries. Because I could. Because I am someone who does stuff like that - and it makes me happy to know that - not out of pride or conceit, but because I am so happy and grateful that I learned to be this way.
Remembering this about me helps me feel connected with inner beauty.
I hope you enjoy today's inspiration...
A sweet lesson on patience.
A NYC Taxi driver wrote:
I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting a few minutes I honked again. Since this was going to be my last ride of my shift I thought about just driving away, but instead I put the car in park and walked up to the door and knocked.. 'Just a minute', answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across
the floor.
After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90's stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940's movie.
By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.
There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard
box filled with photos and glassware.
'Would you carry my bag out to the car?' she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman.
She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.
She kept thanking me for my kindness. 'It's nothing', I told her.. 'I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother to be treated.'
'Oh, you're such a good boy, she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, 'Could you drive
through downtown?'
'It's not the shortest way,' I answered quickly..
'Oh, I don't mind,' she said. 'I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice.
I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. 'I don't have any family left,' she continued in a soft voice..'The doctor says I don't have very long.' I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.
'What route would you like me to take?' I asked.
For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator.
We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.
Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, 'I'm tired.Let's go now'.
We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.
Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move.
They must have been expecting her.
I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.
'How much do I owe you?' She asked, reaching into her purse.
'Nothing,' I said
'You have to make a living,' she answered.
'There are other passengers,' I responded.
Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug.She held onto me tightly.
'You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,' she said. 'Thank you.'
I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light.. Behind me, a door shut.It was the sound of the closing of a life..
I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day,I could hardly talk.What if that woman had gotten an angry driver,or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?
On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life.
We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments.
But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.
