More and more I am beginning to appreciate the people around me. Sure I get frustrated with having to constantly be helped 24/7 and I get annoyed when people think I need to be babied because I have a broken leg(I know you think you need to help me buckle my seatbelt, but no thank you, I am perfectly capable of buckling my own seatbelt.), but quite honestly I really do appreciate the help even though I hate having it at the same time(at least I can get in and out of the shower by myself now).
Today when at a coffee shop with my best friend, we were sitting there chatting when an older man in a wheelchair came up and asked if he could sit with us.of we course we obliged not, not wanting to be rude, but really we were a little confused at his gesture. We found out his name was Jude, he had had 2 strokes putting him in his current condition, has been divorced, remarried to his first cousins ex wife, has two children, one a baker and one a banker, was a post man since he was 17 and dropped out of high school, and his nick name is JJ, standing for Jabber Jaw. Now this man was a little bit off his rocker, which is not surprising when you have had 2 strokes, he didn't mean any harm and we wanted to be polite and assumed he was just lonely and didn't want to eat his dinner by himself, so really what harm is it for us to be kind and talk to him, but it still was a bit creepy, I don't think I'll be adding him as a friend on Facebook any time soon(although he says he has over 2000 friends from all different countries that are all catholic). But he has had a pretty interesting life, thats not meaning I wish I could live my life that way, but it was nice to hear someone in that situation so happy and joyful. Jude was always saying he was blessed, not wanting any pity but open to talking about how he ended up the way he did. Sure Jude was a bit crazy and the guy sitting in the corner of the coffee shop was laughing so hard at our situation, but I liked talking to Jude. He is a prime example of don't judge a book by its cover and I admire his joyful and well meaning heart.
Now don't worry everyone I will not start going up to strangers and talking to them(my mom taught me well not to), but this just teaches me that all people have a story to tell if you let them and people are never exactly the way they seem. It brought so much joy to Jude just to talk to people for a little while and for us to listen and treat him kindly, and if that's all it takes to make someone's day then I am personally glad to do that. I think I can take this lesson and use it towards the people that are already around me, listen more, speak less and really show love and compassion towards them, something thats lacking in my everyday life and I am assuming the lives of tons of people out there. We go through each day so quickly, never wanting to waste time, when there are people all around us feeling lonely. And living on a planet with 7 billion people on it I don't think anyone should feel lonely, we just need to take our time to smile at one person and that could make their day. It's so simple, yet so overlooked.
My new motto is "Show love to them". It's a good thing to live by, not only will it bring others joy, but I find joy in this too.
So until we meet again,
Much love
Xxx
Sarah
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