Unexpected gifts
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Perhaps more precious than the ‘expected’ gifts (for birthdays or holidays) are
those that arrive out of the blue. Or perhaps on a quiet street.
On New Year’s Day, I was walking along a fairly deserted Upper Street in Islington when a gentleman with a stick said ‘Excuse me.’ He was on the other side of a drive cutting across the pavement so I crossed over to him to ask what he wanted. He needed help to cross the drive as he felt unsteady on the slope down from the pavement and then up again. After helping him, I said ‘Happy New Year and thank you.’ He looked surprised – I’m not sure if it was the New Year’s greeting or the thank you that took him aback. And then he carried on down the pavement, at his own pace, wrapped in his own thoughts and world.
What a gift he had given me! The courage and trust to ask someone he didn’t know for help. It’s hard enough for many of us to ask for help. But to do it with someone you don’t know – wow! I felt so grateful to be asked, to be able to help and so humble at his self-awareness of his vulnerability and knowledge of what he needed to do to carry on.
Thank you, kind sir, for teaching me the beauty of self-care and generosity.
May we all carry this lesson for this New Year.
with a bow, Maitripushpa
