A Smile is All it Takes

This morning I stood in line like many of us do at my local Starbucks. By the time, I made it to the cashier to place my drink order I noticed she was frazzled. She was like a robot going through the motion, when I decided to ask “how are you doing today?” She looked up at me, like she was caught off guard. I greeted her with a warm smile. I repeated my question “how are you doing today?” A smile came over her face as she said “I’m doing good. Thanks for asking.”

Sometimes all it takes to turn around someone’s day is a simple act of unconditional kindness. A smile is all it takes to make a difference in someone’s day.

- Kaoru

A Touching Story

I saw an ad to help prepare and serve a dinner at a homeless shelter. Since, I had never been to a homeless shelter I thought this might be a good experience.

The place I was going to was in a run-downed section of Hollywood. The houses were unkept with bars over the windows. Definitely, not a safe place to be day or night.

When I got to the shelter I checked in with guard and he opened the gate to the underground parking for me. I was glad I didn’t have to park out on the street.

In the kitchen I found three people; two were other volunteers and one was the person who I needed to see, Sally. I was told we were preparing a dinner to feed 65 people and most of the meal was being prepared from scratch.

So I helped placing chicken breasts on a tray, made ice tea and lemonade. Then, Sally asked me to go to the dining room and set the tables for dinner.

I stepped into the living quarters and saw so many bunk beds. There were people sleeping, reading, listening to music or talking with friends. I saw young and old, people from all races, so healthy and some crippled.

This was a 90-day transitional shelter. This was a place for people down on their luck, who were trying to get back on their feet to have a home. When I looked around, I couldn’t believe that some of the people looked like me. I wondered how this could be and what their story was.

I asked Sally how she got involved doing this. She told me it was one of the few shelters that didn’t have an organization come in and provide a dinner. So she started to do it once a month and has been doing it for three years now. If that isn’t impressive enough, she pays for all of this out of her pocket, everything from the food to the paper plates. Wow! What a touching story.

Sally isn’t rich nor is she poor, she is just a single woman trying to get by in life, but she is doing it by making a difference. I must say I’ve never met anyone like her, which is why I want to tell this story. People like her in this world are a rare breed.

By the way, she doesn’t just feed all these people. She brings each meal to them at the table. Her idea is to give them respect and dignity and not feel like they’re getting a handout.

When it was all over and done with, Sally, along with all the volunteers got a big “thank you” from the Diners. I can't tell you how gratifying that moment was to me.

Everyone has a purpose in life... a unique gift or special talent to give to others.

Signs

A friend, Susie, from Jakarta, Indonesia, relayed a story to me the other day. I think we can all relate to traffic and being stuck in traffic. Well, in Jakarta traffic is a driver’s nightmare. I’ve been there and I can tell you it’s quite a sight to see. You can’t imagine how aggressive these drivers are as they fight for their piece of the road, like it was a matter of life and death.

Susie, who was stuck in this traffic on her way home, found herself behind one of these guys’ that just drove you crazy. She started blasting her horn and screaming at the top of her lungs. Suddenly, a thought hit her like a ton of bricks as her eyes focused in on the license plate in front of her.

A few blocks from her home she decided to stop off and get something cool to drink. As she was paying for it, the numbers of the license plate flashed in her mind. She saw a lottery ticket and decided to use the numbers.

The next day she decided to see how her luck held up and checked the winning numbers. Low and behold, to her amazement her numbers came up winners. She didn’t win big money but she did walk away a winner in another.

Susie opened her eyes and removed the blinders covering them and recognized the sign before her. Good things await all of us, we only have to see them.

Grand Prize Sweepstake's Winner

My first story is that of a woman I ran into yesterday. I knew this woman from a place where I use to work. She was an ordinary woman who struggled like most of us working two jobs to pay for a place of her own.

I hadn’t seen her for a couple of months, so some time had passed between us. In fact, I wanted to see her because I needed to give her something I had of hers. It was one of those moments I consider to be pure, because it happened for a reason.

She said she would walk back with me to the car. On our way, she told me she had began her day by saying "There will be a miracle coming into my life and I will accept it." I thought this was a great way to start the day. Little did I know what she was going to tell me next.

I knew she was working hard to pay her bills and she made so many sacrifices just to survive. So, when she told me she was the grand prize sweepstake’s winner from a local grocery store I couldn’t believe it, but was so happy for her. When I found out, she won a brand-new car, I was ecstatic. In all my life I had never heard of someone winning something of this magnitude.

She looked at me and said "I didn’t know by saying this each morning it would work so fast." I wanted to share this story because she is one of us – someone out there working to survive and have a better life. Her story is one that should be heard to give people hope to believe, where hope has fallen to despair.

Believe that anything can happen to you and be thankful for all that you have. No matter where you are in life it could always be worse.