This weekend was great. I went out to New Jersey and spent some time with a friend from college. She made sure to show me the best parts of New Jersey, the tax free shopping, and the once a year local wine festival near her house. Saturday was a good day. Finally, I was over my cold, and back to feeling like a normal human being. I am also on the last stretch of a countdown- T is coming home this week! He has been on his European adventure, leaving me to explore a few things around the city. And Sunday, I will say, was the best exploration I have done on my own since moving to NYC.
Sunday was an eye opening day, a great day. I decided to sign up to volunteer at a church that gives meals every sunday to homeless people, or just people in need. It has been a long time since I've done something for someone else. I use to tutor in Atlanta some weekends, and I loved it. Not sure why I ever stopped, life got in the way, and time just slipped by. Anyways, Sunday was amazing. Got to the church early, and right away, started wrapping napkins with spoons and forks in them. Then, the real work started. I was in charge of putting the bread, the last and final touch of the meal, onto the tray, and then handing the tray to the guest. Although it sounds like a small job, it was a
a lot of work, and the entire time, I had a huge grin on my face. I wanted every guest that received a meal, to get it from someone with a smile.
And thats all it took, a smile at one of them, and in return, I would hear a 'g-d bless' most of the time, or my favorite, just a smile back. The power of a grin is endless in my mind. I met a woman, who had severe arthritis in her knees, could barely walk to the bathroom. She asked for some help to carry her bags across the room to the bathroom. I took her hand, and walked with her for a 20 minute walk, that would take a fully able person 3 minutes to walk. On our walk, we chatted about where she is from, and what was wrong with her body. It was easy to see that she was in pain. It hurt her to walk, and there was nothing I could do about that. We got to the bathroom, she had me place her bag outside the stall, she looked at me and said, 'I got it from here. Thank you" she gave me the slightest grin, and she continued into the stall. The whole 20 minutes we walked, she did not once smile, until the end. Behind the smile, I could see the pain- but the smile looked good on her.
I have never been a person who really loved volunteering with elderly people, or homeless people for that matter. This is my blog, and I can be honest. They have always made me uncomfortable. But from this weekend, I learned something valuable about myself. When I am put into a situation that might not be the easiest for me, my first reaction is to smile, and mask my nervousness. And from my experience this past weekend, I fell in love with helping. My next goal, help the elderly... it might sound funny, but the more I challenge myself, and pull myself out of my comfort zone, the happier I am.
Peace, Love, and always wanting more smiles,
b
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