You gotta ask

I've had a lot of people ask me for money and for food over the years. This morning was different.

On my way to kickboxing I eat half a power bar to give me some energy. Today, when I was a couple bites into my half eaten bar, a man (who had been talking to himself) stopped in front of me and said, "you gonna finish that? Can I have it?" Surprised I said "sure" and handed it over. He was very excited and walked away all smiles.

This experience reminded me that it often doesn't take much to make a difference for someone else. It made me grateful both that I had something to give (as crazy as half an eaten bar is) and that he decided for whatever reason that he could ask me to share.

BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN GIVEN MUCH

Because I have been given much
I too must give
Because of thy great bounty Lord
Each day I live
I shall divide gifts from thee
With every brother that see
Who has the need of help from me

 

Because I have been sheltered, fed
By thy good care
I cannot see another’s lack and I not share
My glowing fire, my loaf of bread,

my roof saved shelter overhead
That he to me be comforted

 

Because I have been blessed by
thy great love dear Lord
I’ll share thy love again
According to thy word
I shall give love to those in need
I’ll show that love by word and deed
Thus shall my thanks be thanks in deed

Perhaps it's time for me to be more proactive in my sharing. Not wait to be asked for something small.

Try Again

"... Things I didn't know at first I learned by doing twice"

-Billy Joel

Finding nuggets of truth and wisdom is one of my favorite things. This one I really like, but feel I need to ponder some more. So, I'm going to process by writing.

Like many people, I have a fear of failure. A fear of others thinking poorly of me. A fear of doing things wrong.

But why?

It's interesting to me that I have such trouble with the fear of failure because of my knowledge of, and faith in, the atonement of Christ. His atonement gives us second chances. And boy am I glad because I certainly need them!

Human beings are not perfect. And it is unlikely that we can, or will, get things right the first time. But as Mr Joel reminded me, that's what the second time is for.

What I wasn't too think about is what things I would do if I want scared of failing. And do them. And when I fail, do them again. The second time will likely be better :)

Faith Restored in Humanity

I've had a rough week.

Yesterday was particularly challenging - so much so that last night I looked up a talk from a few years ago I heard where a little boy tells his mom "Hope ya know we had a hard time" and cried.

I was very grateful for some reassurances from people I love and who know me well. But you know what really restored my faith in humanity today? a fork :)

In my hurry to eat lunch and rush to the train on my way to a meeting I wasn't looking forward to I dropped my fork. I was trying to work out in my head how to manage without it when I heard someone from a street food truck calling out.

My first thought was he wanted someone to buy something from him. Not the case - he was telling me, "Miss, we have forks!"

Such a simple thing. I gratefully accepted the fork and then noticed several other things to be grateful for - someone holding a door open, a "bless you" after a sneeze...

People are great. Life is good!