Namaste and Thank You

Today I helped a little old Indian woman pump her gas because she had never done it before. She watched the whole time and asked questions and made sure she knew how to do it for the next time. Afterwards she put her hands together and bowed and said, "This is how we say thank you in India. Namaste." Then got in her car and drove away. I was running errands and didn't have a ton of time. But I'm really proud of myself because even though I've been in a shitty mood all week, when she walked up to me and asked for my help, saying no didn't even cross my mind. Call it silly and selfish, but I felt amazing after I helped her. It took 5 minutes of my time and the smile on her face and how grateful she was really made me feel like the little things in this life are what count. Did it solve all my problems and get rid of all the tings running through my head? No. But did it make someone else's life a little easier? Yes. And that's really all that counts.  

We spend so much time these days thinking about what we need and being selfish.  I'm being a little preachy, but I'm guilty of it too.  I'll be the first person to tell you that being selfish is okay sometimes, because you have to make sure that you're needs are met before you can help others.  But we all get too caught up in it these days.  I certainly have.  I've been sitting on my ass all week feeling sorry for myself about things that happened years ago in my past that I can't change; that don't even really define my life or have any impact on my life anymore.  We get so caught up and self involved that we often don't even think about what our friends need from us.  I've been really guilty of that recently, and today was a slap in the face.  I helped someone I didn't even know, but I've been kind of a dick lately to a lot of my friends.  I've been on a kick lately, trying to make some changes about how I live and I think I'm going to add this one to the list.  Be nicer!  Take the time to take others feelings and needs into account, even if it does mean putting them before my own sometimes.  

And if you're reading this, I really encourage you to take a look at your own life and figure out if there's room to be a little more helpful, or maybe a little nicer, or maybe just being a little more patient or accommodating.  I bet there is.  No one is perfect and we're all guilty of it.  So really, do make the effort to be a little more human.  You'll probably feel better about life in general.

Thanks woman that I will never see again.  You brought me back down to earth.