wanted: angel! Apply within..........

 

 The world always looks brighter from behind a smile.
~Author Unknown

The news reports are such a sad affair. This morning came the report of a young woman on a metro train who suffered a seizure. Instead of helping her, three hoodlums stole her backpack and her cell phone. No one knows who they were. They remain at large.

One only needs to drive the freeways to encounter the buffoons in life. Those who speed, ignoring posted limits. They cut in front of you, tag on your backside, flash lights if they feel you are going too slow, and much more. I go to the store and see people with maybe two or three items wait in line as someone with a cartful pushes ahead of them. Even in many stores, whenever help is sought from store assistants, they act as if they are being inconvenienced!

Put yourself in the place of someone harried....offer help. You don't like to wait...has anyone ever offered for you to go ahead? Told you where to find an item you have been searching for? Helped you when you were down?

I saw an older veteran slip and fall on the ice. A much younger man saw it happen, as did I. The man just continued walking by as the older struggled to get up. I went over and offered my arm with a silent prayer that my own feeble body could help him up. After he got up and I made sure that he was ok, he looked at me and with sincerity, said, "you must be an angel!"
No, I am just one who has been there before and was offered assistance to ensure that I could go on. Just this past summer, I tripped over a curb...now who would put that there in a handicapped parking spot? Immediately, there were folks willing to help, even a nearby dentist, who brought out his chair on wheels so that I could be wheeled to the business I had to get to, my insurance agent! When I was pushed in the office, the secretary looked up. "I guess you could say I am on a guilt trip!" I told her with a chuckle. My new left knee throbbed where I had landed on it, but with the ice provided by the dentist, by the time my appointment was over, I was able to hobble back to the car with my (wonderful) husband's help.
Angel indeed....we are surrounded by angels...if only we step into that role when needed!

You're asking, "what can I do to make another's day brighter?"...I just know you are! Here is a story of what one tiny act of kindness can do. Enjoy and have a peace-filled day!!

"I was at the post office early that morning, hoping to be in and out and on my way at the start of a busy day. Instead, I found myself standing on a line that zigzagged through rope-defined lanes and oozed out into the hallway. I had never seen so many people there and it wasn't even a holiday. Someone must have made an announcement that I obviously missed, welcoming patrons with as many packages as they could possibly carry to bring them in at the exact time I needed to have my own parcel weighed. The line moved excruciatingly slowly. My mood turned edgy, then annoyed. The longer it took, the angrier I became. When I got to the counter — finally! — I concluded my business quickly and curtly and strode past the line that was now extending past the front door.

"Excuse me," I said, trying not to be too pushy. Several people had to shift to make room for me to get to the exit.

I strode out grumbling under my breath about inefficiency and how I was going to be late getting to my dentist appointment. I was scowling as I headed into the parking lot.

A woman was coming across the lot in my direction. She was walking with determination, each step pounding the ground like a mini-jackhammer. I noticed that her brow was tightly furrowed and she looked as if she could breathe fire. It stopped me in my tracks. I recognized myself and it wasn't pretty. Had I looked like that? Her body language said that she was having a really rough day. My anger melted away. I wished I could wrap her in a hug but I was a stranger. So I did what I could in the brief minute before she barreled past me — I smiled. In the space of a second everything changed. I could tell that she was startled, then somewhat confused. Then her face softened and her shoulders relaxed. I saw her take a deep breath. Her pace slowed and she smiled back at me as we passed each other.

I continued to smile all the way to my car. Wow, I thought. Look what a simple smile can do.

The rest of the day felt like a meditation on smiling. I became aware of people's expressions and my own, of the way we show our emotions so plainly. Now I use that awareness on an everyday basis, letting it remind me that when I am fighting the world, or see someone else in that position, I can try a smile. More often than not, the energy of the moment shifts with that one little gesture. The smile on the outside turns inward and the day becomes new again, turning a bright face toward the activities that are yet to come."

~Ferida Wolff