A Moment in Time



"Is winter ever going to end?"

 Try to think of one moment in time.... one of life's simpler moments...for example...standing in line at the grocery store. Your arms are filled because you only came in for paper towels...but you realized you needed a few more items.  You get behind a man with two carts full and you are praying that he will take pity on you and let you go in front of them.  Lo and behold...he actually does that random act of kindness, and you breath a sigh of relief because your biggest worry is that you'll get home a few minutes late.

As you are thanking them, you begin to chat. It feels nice because today...you had a really trying day. The man really wants to talk to you for some reason.  After two or three sentences, he pulls out a picture of his daughter and tells you...."I can finally talk about her...she was hit by a car and killed 4 years ago. Isn't she beautiful?"

It is so difficult to hear him speak those words because pain enunciates every syllable. You close your eyes for a moment, touch the man's arm and say " I am so sorry for your loss." These are totally inadequate words but you don't know what else to say.

"Thank you.  I guess you were placed in my path for a reason today.  Thanks for listening to me. That's all I needed." As he turned to walk away, he paused and smiled a small smile of resignation...shook his head and headed out the door.

And....I thought my day was bad.  Actually, I think he had it backwards.  He was placed in my path for a reason.

I get asked all the time..."where do you get your ideas from?"  A version of this scenario happened to me today.  I fictionalized parts of it....but the subject matter of the conversation is true.  Life is bountiful....pay attention.  Sometimes what you may hear is tough, but perspective is a beautiful thing.