It’s a daily occurrence; as I exit highway 465 and make the bumper-to-bumper crawl back to my apartment after the day’s work, I see them. They stand in the grass next to the traffic light, their faces squinted, hair wind swept. They pace the medians wearing sandwich boards. They hold their cardboard slates and run to cars as drivers hold their arms out from open windows, bills waded between their fingers. They nod their heads in gratitude and cross the exit, back to their original stance.
Maybe, like me, your pockets aren’t as deep as you’d like. Maybe you’re living paycheck-to-paycheck and surviving off of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I understand; you can’t solve everyone’s problems. After all, you have your own headaches to worry about!
But maybe, with just one act of generosity, you could save someone. You could give them hope, or at least give them a reason to smile, and that one moment, that one act, could give them the strength to keep going. The truth is, misery does not love company. Misery wants you all to herself. It’s so easy to focus inward, to blame someone else, to just say, “This isn’t going to help anything.” And when you reach that low point, odds are that not too many people will be willing to join your party.
There’s just no getting over that hump unless you believe that you can. What better way to embrace that belief than by reaching out to the people around you? Let’s start by throwing some generosity back where you came from - your mother and grandmother.
This Mother’s Day, let your heart - not your wallet - do the talking, and show the important women in your life how much you appreciate them. It’s true, you don’t have to buy her an iPod, or even flowers - we all know they’ll just die anyway. Instead, why not help weed the garden, clean the house, or cook a nice dinner instead of shelling out money at an expensive restaurant.
Thinking of buying jewelry, but not sure if your budget can fit her taste? Forget about it! Buy a gift she can really use, or make one that could be both useful and heartwarming. Use your talents and genuine thoughtfulness to show your appreciation for all the things you might overlook or take for granted. Don’t stop there either. Tell all of your family, your friends, your neighbors, your pets, your mail carrier, the clerk at the check-out counter, and anyone else you see everyday that you care about them, that you hope they have a great day, and that they are important. Not only is it considerate, it’s good for humanity.
Do your part to infuse the world with generosity and you’ll find it much easier to put misery out of… well, you get the idea. Happy Mother’s Day.
