My last post was about a man in a yellow hat. A man who sits on a corner every day asking for things. Anything. Food, drink, water, a smile. The point of the post was to get as many comments in exchange for items to give to this man. I am extremely happy by all the response towards this man from all of you. After reading all the comments, and counting them up..my family and I gathered as many things as we could fit into a box, wrapped it up nicely, and went to deliver it to the man in the yellow hat. Can you feel this excitement?? Singing Christmas carols as we drove to 'his' corner to do this act of love. It was even snowing..kind of like in a magical story. But just as stories have an ending, ours did too. When we got to the corner where this man normally is, instead of finding him, we found a sign. A sign that simply said, "In Memory". For a long moment, we just sat there. Really?? All his stuff is still on the corner, surely he is still here, right??? Right?? So we went home thinking we'd come back later that day. And we did. And we found out that he did indeed pass away. As a memory to him, all his things were left on his corner for his friends to remember him. Wow..our hearts were heavy. I don't even know why. We didn't know this man, had never even talked to him before. But maybe the thought of being able to do something to help someone out, and then realizing that it wasn't going to be..really put my thoughts into perspective. Although I had never met this man, someone else had. Many people had..for they left his things exactly where they were. Untouched. Unmoved. Although I never talked to this man, someone else had. They knew what made him laugh, and left flowers by his cart on the corner.
This little experience has made me rethink so many things in life. Important things, small things, simple things, amazing things. It has made me see another side to a belief that I have. A belief that we are all someone. There is no such thing as a 'nobody'. Everyone is important to someone else. Have you ever heard the quote that says, "To the world, you may be one person. To one person, you are the world." That's what I think of now. Someone, somewhere is so very sad because of the passing of this man.
What if through it all, we shared our compassion with others. What if through it all, we choose to smile while we could, even when it's hard. What if through it all, we stood by those who need a friend..regardless of status or rank. What if through it all, we decide to make every day a fantastic day simply because we're in it. What a vision to catch.
The start of a new year is just a few days away. Maybe now is the perfect chance to grab hold of something, a goal, a thought, a hope..and run with it. :)
Best of luck to you all in the upcoming New Year. What a journey this past year has been, and what an exciting year ahead of us.
Until next time...
