“Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, ‘What’s in it for me?”
-Brian Tracy.
Sometimes We can’t do everything and have to humble ourselves. After a lifetime of being stubborn and independent, having to ask for so much help was altogether humbling and produced a great patience in me. Before I was injured I did everything when and how I wanted to. However, in the hospital and after I had to have assistance and help with nearly everything. Not only was I not used to asking for help but it was painful having to wait so long(or seemingly) for everything. I even needed help to cut my own nails! I have never been all that patient, but now I had no choice but to be patient and gracious when things weren’t done how I’d normally prefer them. It was not only difficult having to ask and then wait, but it made me feel set back as well. We live in a “I want it now,” society. Therefore, waiting to do anything(especially everyday tasks) was excruciating. We all need help sometimes, but never to this extent. To ask for so much help was not only humbling but a great teacher of patience. Imagine having to wait to do what you want, when you never really had to. The experience of this was not only a lesson but highlighted the fact that We are definitely spoiled by convenience. Most of all in my times of need little human Angels popped up everywhere. This was not only a lesson in patience and humility, but community too. We all need each other more than you realize. In fact after being put into such a situation, it was clear to me that we’d all be better off if society valued the servant roles as much as the master roles. In our pursuit for control we miss out on the beauty of a shared human experience. How much easier and full of love would life be, if We all helped each other rather than only ourselves? After being in a place of so much need I now understand the importance of serving and helping others. I actually look out for and forward to opportunities to help someone. As well as look back at the times I had them and didn’t. To share in the life and joys of another, even a stranger is more fulfilling than living selfishly. For each person that went out of their way for me, they made my day better and it was done for no personal gain. All of these small acts of kindness are woven into a larger tapestry that creates our experience of humanity, and all of humanity is better when We share it.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWP6Qki8mWc&w=420&h=315%5DIt’s a lesson I wish I would’ve learned sooner than later. For, had that happened I would have spent so much more time sharing my life with others who needed help at that moment. In doing so and giving of yourself, you gain so much more than what you give. Don’t wait too long to realize this but the sooner you begin the better!
Go, Angel Go!
