Kim and I have been training for our longest hike of the season, the 13.5 mile stretch of the Appalachian Trail (AT) known as "the Roller Coaster". With drastic up and down elevation changes adding several additional miles onto the hike, it is considered by many to be the most strenuous part of the AT. I had the ridiculous idea at the beginning of the summer to do it all in a single day and we were about to go for it.
We parked Kim's car at the back end of the hike and drove together in mine to the start. We were on the trail just after 8 am and making great progress on the most difficult ascent to Buzzard Hill, the roughly 1/3 point of the entire hike. As we ate our lunch, I checked the time. Only 2.5 hours. Sweet! "Babe, it doesn't seem like it will take anywhere near 10 hours." We were off again within 20 minutes, soon entering more ups and downs, including two significant ascents. I began to feel the wear on these old knees of mine. All good, I thought. At the 2/3 point, with the largest hills now down, even if I came in like a zombie, we would make it much quicker than we thought.
By the seven hour mark, with maybe an hour left, I was really hurting. This was definitely taking a toll on my knees now, with every step causing considerable pain. Suddenly, Kim let out a howl from behind me, "Oh no!" I turned, "What?" "I left the key to my car in your truck. We have no way to drive back." "Oh no you didn't!", I thought, as I noticed the urge to criticize her for this mistake and start useless complaining. Instead, using Stop, Drop, and Be, I brought myself back to the present moment. Time to sail these two C's. I can choose a different reaction, kindness and compassion. "It's okay babe. No big deal. I've done far worse." She was still clearly upset, apologizing I'm betting a dozen times over our predicament, when she offered, "I wonder if my sister and brother-in-law, Debbie and James, would be willing to come get us and take us to your truck?" Thanks to their kindness, that's exactly what happened. They met us at the end of the trail and saved the day. Though I've no doubt we would have made it home just fine one way or another, by both of us Sailing the Seven C's together, it sure proved far easier and didn't spoil our great day in the process.
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Overcoming Our Fears
Kim and I got into hiking during our first few years of marriage. On one hike, the Billy Goat A trail on the Maryland side of Great Falls National Park, we encountered a significant scramble up the side of a cliff face, relatively safe for most, unless you might have a particular phobia of heights like Kim does. Some distance up the cliff face, she froze in panic, and fortunately after some significant time and help from others hikers, we were able to coach her up and off. She swore she would never return to do Billy Goat A...until yesterday.
That's right. We...okay I...decided to provide Kim a chance to overcome her fear of heights, at least with respect to Billy Goat A. Good husband, right? We hit the trail and when we got to the base of the particular point where Kim froze last time, she asked if this was it. I fibbed and told her no...kind of true as the place she froze the first time was half way up the cliff...and up I went, encouraging her to follow. I quickly arrived at a reasonable stopping point about 3/4 of the way up to wait for her. Looking back for the first time, I noticed she wasn't too far behind me and past the place where she froze previously. Encouraging her to take the easiest path up the side of the cliff face and focus on the ground in front of her, I waited. As she got further up, she began to slow and made the mistake of looking down and then up toward me. Panic began to take hold. Still she climbed, albeit even slower on her hands and knees. As she made her way closer to me, I climbed the ledge above, arguably the most challenging part of the cliff face, preparing to help her up. She refused my hand, trying to navigate herself over the ledge I was on...and then, straddling the rock ledge with one leg over and one leg below, she froze! Uh oh...here we go again!
Now, I will be honest. There is absolutely no way she was going to fall more than a few feet from this location, no matter what happened. Yet, as I sat there wondering how I would get her off that ledge, it occurred to me that I had a huge fear myself. The fear of losing her at some point in our future. No matter how well I Sail the Seven C's, I still find it impossible to stop clinging to the belief that my happiness depends on her being in my life.
I knew in my gut, Kim had what it takes to get up and over the ledge. I offered my arm which she felt unable to risk taking. I said encouraging words, just as hikers below came around the trail, looking up at our frozen challenge. Kim had to choose to do it herself, just like all of us, if we want to face and overcome our fears. We want so much to keep everything in our life safe, controlling the world and everyone around us. The truth is, we control very little at all, perhaps only our own choices in the final analysis.
Finally, Kim began to make her move, inching slowly, still hugging the ledge tightly and finally over the top she came, knees, legs, and arms a bit worse for wear. She was never in any real danger, though her mind insisted that she was. "Nice work, Babe!" She looked a bit embarrassed. Off I went a bit further up to the top and she slowly followed. "You did it! You overcame your fear." She was clearly relieved to be off the cliff face, but at the same time proud of her accomplishment. To someone with no fear of heights, it might seem like no big deal. To her and to me, it was simply huge and shows what we are all made of, if we simply choose to push our self outside our comfort zone. I asked, "Will you ever come back?" She answered, "Sure, but I will take the long path around the cliff face." We laughed and continued on with our hike.
That's right. We...okay I...decided to provide Kim a chance to overcome her fear of heights, at least with respect to Billy Goat A. Good husband, right? We hit the trail and when we got to the base of the particular point where Kim froze last time, she asked if this was it. I fibbed and told her no...kind of true as the place she froze the first time was half way up the cliff...and up I went, encouraging her to follow. I quickly arrived at a reasonable stopping point about 3/4 of the way up to wait for her. Looking back for the first time, I noticed she wasn't too far behind me and past the place where she froze previously. Encouraging her to take the easiest path up the side of the cliff face and focus on the ground in front of her, I waited. As she got further up, she began to slow and made the mistake of looking down and then up toward me. Panic began to take hold. Still she climbed, albeit even slower on her hands and knees. As she made her way closer to me, I climbed the ledge above, arguably the most challenging part of the cliff face, preparing to help her up. She refused my hand, trying to navigate herself over the ledge I was on...and then, straddling the rock ledge with one leg over and one leg below, she froze! Uh oh...here we go again!
Now, I will be honest. There is absolutely no way she was going to fall more than a few feet from this location, no matter what happened. Yet, as I sat there wondering how I would get her off that ledge, it occurred to me that I had a huge fear myself. The fear of losing her at some point in our future. No matter how well I Sail the Seven C's, I still find it impossible to stop clinging to the belief that my happiness depends on her being in my life.
I knew in my gut, Kim had what it takes to get up and over the ledge. I offered my arm which she felt unable to risk taking. I said encouraging words, just as hikers below came around the trail, looking up at our frozen challenge. Kim had to choose to do it herself, just like all of us, if we want to face and overcome our fears. We want so much to keep everything in our life safe, controlling the world and everyone around us. The truth is, we control very little at all, perhaps only our own choices in the final analysis.
Finally, Kim began to make her move, inching slowly, still hugging the ledge tightly and finally over the top she came, knees, legs, and arms a bit worse for wear. She was never in any real danger, though her mind insisted that she was. "Nice work, Babe!" She looked a bit embarrassed. Off I went a bit further up to the top and she slowly followed. "You did it! You overcame your fear." She was clearly relieved to be off the cliff face, but at the same time proud of her accomplishment. To someone with no fear of heights, it might seem like no big deal. To her and to me, it was simply huge and shows what we are all made of, if we simply choose to push our self outside our comfort zone. I asked, "Will you ever come back?" She answered, "Sure, but I will take the long path around the cliff face." We laughed and continued on with our hike.
Sunday, August 21, 2016
What's the Weather Like for You Today?
Doesn't it sometimes seem like the challenges of the day are far more than they should be? An even more important question is what choices we will make in responding to the challenges. Along these lines, there is a beautiful concept explored by the late Dr. Stephen Covey in his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Read this book. You won't be sorry. On a day like today, completely overcast with zero sun and raining heavily, it's easy for us to get down, moody, even depressed. Covey suggests that we have the power within us to literally choose our weather, regardless of the real weather around us. We can choose our attitude and mindset. It's as if it is bright and sunny outside, despite what nature throws our way on a given day.
As crazy as it seems and as seemingly impossible as it might seem during the worst of times, I believe it is not only possible to do this on a gloomy, rainy day, it's possible to do this no matter what crazy challenges life throws at us. Today, choosing my weather proved rather easy. What's the weather like for you today?
As crazy as it seems and as seemingly impossible as it might seem during the worst of times, I believe it is not only possible to do this on a gloomy, rainy day, it's possible to do this no matter what crazy challenges life throws at us. Today, choosing my weather proved rather easy. What's the weather like for you today?
Saturday, August 6, 2016
Choosing to Ride the Roller Coaster of Life
I was lucky to see the author Brene Brown speak recently on Courage and Vulnerability. I highly recommend you check out her TED talks. I absolutely loved how she was positive and playful, artfully weaving self deprecating humor into her message. She shared that courage means being vulnerable and being vulnerable requires one to risk, face uncertainty, and be emotionally exposed. Wow! That sounds scary, huh? Who would want that, right? Well...
...this got me thinking about the possible relationship between what Brene Brown shared and Sail the Seven C's. A few months ago, a friend of ours, very familiar with Brene Brown's work, pointed to such a connection in the stories we shared during one of our Seven C's workshops together. Don't our egos try hard to keep us away from being vulnerable with others in order to avoid the inevitable pain that comes with human connections? Don't we fear what others might think of, or heaven forbid say to us, forgetting that our infinite value, every one of us, doesn't depend one bit on others' perceptions of us? Our ego's fear and desire ultimately manifest as Competing, Comparing, Chasing, Controlling, Complaining, Criticizing, and Clinging in order to, we hope, keep out the pains of life. The irony is that in failing to Sail the Seven C's, we don't avoid inevitable pain at all, rather we create additional pain for our self. More importantly, we inadvertently keep out and miss out on the very thing we all crave, unconditional love and genuine happiness.
It's kind of like being at an amusement park, poised to ride that wild, crazy roller coaster called life. If we choose to Sail the Seven C's, embracing fully our nature to love one another despite the pain we will certainly encounter, we choose to get on the ride, however scared we might be, and experience ALL of it, the extreme ups as well as downs of our one precious, exhilarating life. I know what choice I want to make. How about you?
...this got me thinking about the possible relationship between what Brene Brown shared and Sail the Seven C's. A few months ago, a friend of ours, very familiar with Brene Brown's work, pointed to such a connection in the stories we shared during one of our Seven C's workshops together. Don't our egos try hard to keep us away from being vulnerable with others in order to avoid the inevitable pain that comes with human connections? Don't we fear what others might think of, or heaven forbid say to us, forgetting that our infinite value, every one of us, doesn't depend one bit on others' perceptions of us? Our ego's fear and desire ultimately manifest as Competing, Comparing, Chasing, Controlling, Complaining, Criticizing, and Clinging in order to, we hope, keep out the pains of life. The irony is that in failing to Sail the Seven C's, we don't avoid inevitable pain at all, rather we create additional pain for our self. More importantly, we inadvertently keep out and miss out on the very thing we all crave, unconditional love and genuine happiness.
It's kind of like being at an amusement park, poised to ride that wild, crazy roller coaster called life. If we choose to Sail the Seven C's, embracing fully our nature to love one another despite the pain we will certainly encounter, we choose to get on the ride, however scared we might be, and experience ALL of it, the extreme ups as well as downs of our one precious, exhilarating life. I know what choice I want to make. How about you?
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
Niagara Falls...Literally
Our family just returned from a mini-vacation that included a stop through Niagara Falls on the US, not Canadian side. To say that this wonder is an absolutely incredible, beautiful work of mother nature is a gross understatement. While Kim had visited Niagara a few times as a child, the rest of us were seeing it for the first time. It struck me how the massive, chaotic flow of so much water was yet another metaphor for the futility of our near constant efforts at 'Controlling' every aspect of our life and circumstances. Isn't it better to simply 'Be Accepting' and 'Let Go' during the crazy, white waters life occasionally throws our way?
The city of Niagara on the US side seems to be experiencing the turbulence of sustained white waters herself. While the park itself was certainly still maintained, the city has decayed and literally fallen since Kim and her family visited as a child. It was quite remarkable how many homes and businesses, literally right next to the park were abandoned, with windows broken out or boarded up. Gone were the many shops and restaurants that used to be found there. Even the once glorious Hotel Niagara, once visited by many historical celebrities was circled by a fence, in a similar state of disrepair. Upon driving through so much more of the city, we found very little different. It was depressing really, especially after checking online about the nature of the city's decline. Violent crime is now worse there than New York City, a fact we absolutely couldn't believe and left us a bit apprehensive about our visit there.
As we drove toward home, we lamented about this travesty. How could the Canadian side of Niagara Falls be in such great shape in so many ways, while our own US attraction languished? Kim wondered, were we doing too much 'Comparing', 'Competing', and futile 'Controlling'? Was this our pride and ego getting the best of us? Probably and yet surely there is something that can and must be done to fix things? Then again, perhaps the incredible wonder of nature called Niagara Falls doesn't really need anything we could provide as human beings to be somehow better than it already is, pure perfection.
The city of Niagara on the US side seems to be experiencing the turbulence of sustained white waters herself. While the park itself was certainly still maintained, the city has decayed and literally fallen since Kim and her family visited as a child. It was quite remarkable how many homes and businesses, literally right next to the park were abandoned, with windows broken out or boarded up. Gone were the many shops and restaurants that used to be found there. Even the once glorious Hotel Niagara, once visited by many historical celebrities was circled by a fence, in a similar state of disrepair. Upon driving through so much more of the city, we found very little different. It was depressing really, especially after checking online about the nature of the city's decline. Violent crime is now worse there than New York City, a fact we absolutely couldn't believe and left us a bit apprehensive about our visit there.
As we drove toward home, we lamented about this travesty. How could the Canadian side of Niagara Falls be in such great shape in so many ways, while our own US attraction languished? Kim wondered, were we doing too much 'Comparing', 'Competing', and futile 'Controlling'? Was this our pride and ego getting the best of us? Probably and yet surely there is something that can and must be done to fix things? Then again, perhaps the incredible wonder of nature called Niagara Falls doesn't really need anything we could provide as human beings to be somehow better than it already is, pure perfection.
Sunday, July 10, 2016
My Big Horn Sheep
Kim and I have been doing a huge amount of hiking lately along parts of the Appalachian trail near our house. When I say huge, I mean 8-12 miles at a shot, on the part of the trail affectionately known as "roller coaster", the most strenuous part of the entire thing. Well, I guess it's part of getting older or being less in shape than Kim, but she, like a big horn sheep, just seems to bound up the steepest sections without any effort at all, while I'm sucking wind just trying to ensure I put one foot in front of the other, overcoming the mental and physical exhaustion calling me to just stop and collapse. It's so bad that at one point toward the end of our last hike, a young through hiker with a good 40 pounds on his back, passed me up, met Kim further up the trail where she was patiently waiting for me and as he passed her, commented, "don't worry, he's still coming." HA! I guess Kim decided she wanted to capture some of this in the video clip below. I know, that's just not right.
Why is it that when we were in our first years of marriage, it was Kim who had to struggle to keep up with me on strenuous hikes? How is it that as the dude, she is now able to do more than I am? I can't believe she is teasing me? As I make it to where Kim is patiently waiting for me to catch up, the competing, comparing, complaining, and clinging begin to set in. Stop, drop, and be I think. Time to choose positive and playful. At last, a downhill stretch. Off I go, my trekking polls up and behind me like a downhill skier, as I sprint past Kim, her laughter trailing off behind me. I'm no longer encumbered by the uphill struggle, my long legs taking me down faster than ever, forcing Kim to literally trail run to keep up. Now I will show her what it feels like to get left behind. HA! "Oh and by the way babe, my new nick name for you is Big Horn Sheep". She responds, "baaaaahhhhhh".
Why is it that when we were in our first years of marriage, it was Kim who had to struggle to keep up with me on strenuous hikes? How is it that as the dude, she is now able to do more than I am? I can't believe she is teasing me? As I make it to where Kim is patiently waiting for me to catch up, the competing, comparing, complaining, and clinging begin to set in. Stop, drop, and be I think. Time to choose positive and playful. At last, a downhill stretch. Off I go, my trekking polls up and behind me like a downhill skier, as I sprint past Kim, her laughter trailing off behind me. I'm no longer encumbered by the uphill struggle, my long legs taking me down faster than ever, forcing Kim to literally trail run to keep up. Now I will show her what it feels like to get left behind. HA! "Oh and by the way babe, my new nick name for you is Big Horn Sheep". She responds, "baaaaahhhhhh".
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Unconditional Love
A central message of Sail the Seven C's is to wake up, be present to life moment to moment, and chose to practice living our lives based on principles born of love. When I say love, I mean the kind of love that doesn't carry any sort of requirement for it to be given.
I got a chance to witness first hand an incredible expression of unconditional love just last weekend. A very good friend of ours invited us to attend her son's Bar Mitzvah. What an absolutely beautiful event in every conceivable way. At one particular point, as our friend's son recited several passages in Hebrew, I watched his mother, a few steps away, intently fixated on her son. She was so present to life at that moment. You couldn't have pulled her attention away if you tried. Without a word spoken, you could literally see the love for her son emanating from her. Her immense pride could not be hidden. She was no where else but right there, with him, supporting him and yet at the same time letting him stand on his own. The smile on her face was so wonderful to see, as she silently mouthed the sacred words that her son spoke. He had no doubt she was there for him, and in front of us all, he later thanked her for all she did and does for him, returning that unconditional love and bond between a son and his mother.
Perhaps it's too difficult to ever express in words, whatever language is spoken, just what unconditional love is, or even being truly present to life for that matter. I'm confident though that I witnessed it during these very special moments, even though I didn't understand all the words spoken. To me, this is what life is all about, rather than all the 'stuff' we so often get caught up in when we aren't consciously present to life. I'm grateful for having had the chance to be there. To be reminded why we are really here and the overwhelming importance of love, the great unifier, found in every enduring faith and the secular world. Think about it. What else could it be about if not love? Mazel tov. Shalom.
I got a chance to witness first hand an incredible expression of unconditional love just last weekend. A very good friend of ours invited us to attend her son's Bar Mitzvah. What an absolutely beautiful event in every conceivable way. At one particular point, as our friend's son recited several passages in Hebrew, I watched his mother, a few steps away, intently fixated on her son. She was so present to life at that moment. You couldn't have pulled her attention away if you tried. Without a word spoken, you could literally see the love for her son emanating from her. Her immense pride could not be hidden. She was no where else but right there, with him, supporting him and yet at the same time letting him stand on his own. The smile on her face was so wonderful to see, as she silently mouthed the sacred words that her son spoke. He had no doubt she was there for him, and in front of us all, he later thanked her for all she did and does for him, returning that unconditional love and bond between a son and his mother.
Perhaps it's too difficult to ever express in words, whatever language is spoken, just what unconditional love is, or even being truly present to life for that matter. I'm confident though that I witnessed it during these very special moments, even though I didn't understand all the words spoken. To me, this is what life is all about, rather than all the 'stuff' we so often get caught up in when we aren't consciously present to life. I'm grateful for having had the chance to be there. To be reminded why we are really here and the overwhelming importance of love, the great unifier, found in every enduring faith and the secular world. Think about it. What else could it be about if not love? Mazel tov. Shalom.
Monday, June 20, 2016
Rolling Over a Rolly Polly
Did you ever play around with those little rolly-polly bugs as a kid? I used to love how they would roll up in a ball for protection when touched to then, after some time, uncurl and off they would go. Unlike some bugs, you could let them crawl all over you without a worry in the world.
Toward the end of last week, while briskly pulling a cart full of training materials, I saw one slowly crawling across my path directly in front of me. In one brief second I thought, "is it possible that I might run over this doodle bug with the cart I'm pulling?" Instead of stopping to be sure I avoided this possibility, I simply kept going in my rush, looking back just as the cart's wheels accidently crushed the rolly-polly. "Shoot!" Why didn't I simply pause from my hurried pace to be more careful and considerate? Yes, careful and considerate of a rolly-polly. Despite how you feel about these awesome little guys, don't we often get so busy doing and moving about here and there, that we fail to do what we our self would honestly acknowledge we would rather do...like pause for a rolly-polly for instance? I know, it's just a rolly-polly Preston. Yet I wonder if we almost unconsciously treat our fellow human beings just like the rolly-polly, when all we have to do is wake up from our sleep walking, slow down, and just be present and aware to the life around us. After all, why are we in such a hurry anyway? The rolly-polly isn't...then again, look what happened to the slow, rolly-polly. HA!
Toward the end of last week, while briskly pulling a cart full of training materials, I saw one slowly crawling across my path directly in front of me. In one brief second I thought, "is it possible that I might run over this doodle bug with the cart I'm pulling?" Instead of stopping to be sure I avoided this possibility, I simply kept going in my rush, looking back just as the cart's wheels accidently crushed the rolly-polly. "Shoot!" Why didn't I simply pause from my hurried pace to be more careful and considerate? Yes, careful and considerate of a rolly-polly. Despite how you feel about these awesome little guys, don't we often get so busy doing and moving about here and there, that we fail to do what we our self would honestly acknowledge we would rather do...like pause for a rolly-polly for instance? I know, it's just a rolly-polly Preston. Yet I wonder if we almost unconsciously treat our fellow human beings just like the rolly-polly, when all we have to do is wake up from our sleep walking, slow down, and just be present and aware to the life around us. After all, why are we in such a hurry anyway? The rolly-polly isn't...then again, look what happened to the slow, rolly-polly. HA!
Friday, June 10, 2016
Is it better to be an optimist or a pessimist?
This is Kim.....I wonder, could the answer to the question, optimist or pessimist be neither? Think about it. The optimist sees the glass half full, while the pessimist sees the glass half empty. Essentially, an optimist is likely positive in expectation about the future and a pessimist is likely negative in expectation about the future. Common to both is thinking about the unknown future. Is either then in the present moment?
Preston and I were 'competing' with one another just last night, having a lengthy debate about this very topic and its relationship to happiness and best outcomes in life. Our oldest, Caleb, was stressing over a math quiz the next day, telling us he just felt it in his gut that despite doing his best to study and prepare, he wasn't going to do well. Preston offered that if he chose to think that way already, this would negatively impact the likely result. He argued that if you say you won't do well, guess what, you won't. Why not consider choosing to embrace a different mindset, where thinking positively about his ability to do well on the quiz would increase the likelihood that Caleb's outcome would turn out positive? I argued that it was best to be a happy pessimist, because they imagine all the things that could possibly go wrong and when they turn out right, or at very least better than expected, they are pleasantly surprised. I wondered if the optimist is constantly let down, because things never go as well as imagined? We looked up all kinds of research to support both points of view before realizing that the danger for both optimists and pessimists were being wrapped up in the future and not present.
I wonder, instead of seeing the glass half full as an optimist, or half empty as a pessimist, why not consider that the glass "just is"? Why be worried at all about what the future holds? Why not simply choose to be "Nowist"!? The present moment is all we can be sure of anyway.
Preston and I were 'competing' with one another just last night, having a lengthy debate about this very topic and its relationship to happiness and best outcomes in life. Our oldest, Caleb, was stressing over a math quiz the next day, telling us he just felt it in his gut that despite doing his best to study and prepare, he wasn't going to do well. Preston offered that if he chose to think that way already, this would negatively impact the likely result. He argued that if you say you won't do well, guess what, you won't. Why not consider choosing to embrace a different mindset, where thinking positively about his ability to do well on the quiz would increase the likelihood that Caleb's outcome would turn out positive? I argued that it was best to be a happy pessimist, because they imagine all the things that could possibly go wrong and when they turn out right, or at very least better than expected, they are pleasantly surprised. I wondered if the optimist is constantly let down, because things never go as well as imagined? We looked up all kinds of research to support both points of view before realizing that the danger for both optimists and pessimists were being wrapped up in the future and not present.
I wonder, instead of seeing the glass half full as an optimist, or half empty as a pessimist, why not consider that the glass "just is"? Why be worried at all about what the future holds? Why not simply choose to be "Nowist"!? The present moment is all we can be sure of anyway.
Sunday, June 5, 2016
Some Good Old Fashioned Bread Pudding
I got a rock chip in my wind shield last week and went to a glass shop in a nearby city to get it fixed. While there, Kim, Isaac, and I met an absolutely wonderful lady. Immediately, she revealed her kind, loving presence with her smile and heartfelt greeting to everyone. You could just tell in every possible way this was a genuinely good person. She was picking up her favorite cooking dish, now empty, that she had loaned to the people of the glass shop, having provided them with her old fashioned bread pudding a few days prior. I thought that she must have someone in her family or a dear friend that works here for her to have gone to so much trouble. After all, old fashioned bread pudding takes meticulous preparation and time to make. The repair to our windshield was soon done and we all left about the same time, saying warm goodbyes and well wishes. Kim and I discussed how nice it was to have encountered such a lovely lady and wondered what caused her to make such a kind gesture of making her bread pudding for the people working at the glass shop.
The very next day, while taking a long walk around town, we got our chance to find out. Kim spotted the very same lady driving down main street, turning into a local store. Oh my goodness, what were the chances of seeing the same lady in our town? We both turned and walked back to the store to say hello, struck by the coincidental nature of seeing her again. Realizing we weren't actually headed into the store, she exclaimed, "You came over just to say hi to me? I could just hug you both." We chatted for some time, learning a bit more about each other, our families, and asking her about the various ways she gave her time, talents, and money to those in need.
Curious, I decided to ask her about the bread pudding and who she knew that worked at the glass shop. Turned out, she didn't really know anyone in particular. The glass shop had provided her an estimate on fixing some windows and repaired a glass pitcher she needed to skim the milk for making her bread pudding, all free of charge. Yep, that's right. I know, hard to believe, right. Free of charge. She shared that she absolutely had to cook for them all the very pudding she was then able to make, because of their generous help. Kim commented, "Wow, you don't really find kindness like that too often anymore." She responded immediately, "I know, they really were so very nice to me." We said our goodbyes and Kim and I later talked about how remarkable she was. How she automatically interpreted Kim's compliment, meant for her, as being intended for the people at the glass shop. Is it possible that this kindest of ladies was so humble, so constantly focused on helping and giving to others, that she rarely thought about her own needs at all? I think the answer is definitely yes, and she was clearly happy for it. Hmmmmm....what old fashioned bread pudding can I give someone today?
The very next day, while taking a long walk around town, we got our chance to find out. Kim spotted the very same lady driving down main street, turning into a local store. Oh my goodness, what were the chances of seeing the same lady in our town? We both turned and walked back to the store to say hello, struck by the coincidental nature of seeing her again. Realizing we weren't actually headed into the store, she exclaimed, "You came over just to say hi to me? I could just hug you both." We chatted for some time, learning a bit more about each other, our families, and asking her about the various ways she gave her time, talents, and money to those in need.
Curious, I decided to ask her about the bread pudding and who she knew that worked at the glass shop. Turned out, she didn't really know anyone in particular. The glass shop had provided her an estimate on fixing some windows and repaired a glass pitcher she needed to skim the milk for making her bread pudding, all free of charge. Yep, that's right. I know, hard to believe, right. Free of charge. She shared that she absolutely had to cook for them all the very pudding she was then able to make, because of their generous help. Kim commented, "Wow, you don't really find kindness like that too often anymore." She responded immediately, "I know, they really were so very nice to me." We said our goodbyes and Kim and I later talked about how remarkable she was. How she automatically interpreted Kim's compliment, meant for her, as being intended for the people at the glass shop. Is it possible that this kindest of ladies was so humble, so constantly focused on helping and giving to others, that she rarely thought about her own needs at all? I think the answer is definitely yes, and she was clearly happy for it. Hmmmmm....what old fashioned bread pudding can I give someone today?
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