I went out today.
I could have stayed at home.
It was a pointless errand, a doctor's appointment.
As I met people along the way, I tried to be pleasant, to make them feel a little bit better. Sometimes, it worked.
As I came out of the building from my doctor's appointment, I saw, a distance away an old man was shuffling in my direction. I held the door open. Twenty seconds later he got to the door.
"Is the doctor still there?" he asked, "oh I'm in pain" he exclaimed in afterthought.
I told him I had just seen my doctor, smiled, told him don't worry, the surgery is still open.
"I wish you health" I say once he is in the building and shuffling toward the elevator.
Perhaps I made his day.
Perhaps I was the only person he saw that day.
I worry about what job I will get. To what greater cause.
This startup, that government, this idea, that ideal. Making money, changing the world. Is it smoke and mirrors, do I trust myself working again for the corporate beast?
I remember what today taught me.
That whatever I do, as long as I am doing, am active, I will be coming into contact with people.
And that gives me the opportunity to help others by being, even by having a pleasant demeanor.
I can better my life too. I can be active in a way that betters my experience of life.
I want to like the people I am helping, to believe in the cause I am pushing forward.
But before I find the great cause, find the people who are deserving of my help, let me start with now.
Let me do what needs to be done right now with a smile.