I may not ever do great things in life, but I know that the little things I do mean something to someone...

I was waiting for the bus to go to town, wearing way too many layers in a gorgeous sunny 5 PM sky and it dawned on me that I hadn't experienced that before; the weather before had always been cold or rainy. Once in town I realized I had some extra time before my meeting so I decided to go get a smoothie down the street. I saw an old friend on the street and stopped just enough for a quick "hey, good to see you, I'm sorry but I gotta run!" and started actually running so I wouldn't be late.

Then I noticed a man in crutches dragging a suit case and a bag full of groceries while trying to walk at the same time and I offered my help. I set up his bags in a way that would be easy to carry but instead of letting him carry them, I asked him where he was going and told him I'd help him there; not really caring if I was late after I saw his face light up at my offer. Dressed in big black pants that allowed enough room for his leg cast, a nice button down shirt and vest, a plastic document pocket hanging from his neck, blue eyes and scruffy blonde hair. He seemed well educated and had a sense of serenity when he spoke.

In between dodging other people and making sure I wasn't going too fast for his pace, on our 6 block walk to the bus station I learned about the man's condition, why he's in crutches. He told me about his mother passing away 5 years ago, some of his struggles and how he really doesn't have much hope for himself, but he keeps going on every day none the less. I walked alongside of him, not feeling like "I'm helping this poor man," but rather feeling like we were just two good friends trying to get somewhere. We stopped at the news stand machines and he told me when he was a young boy he and his friends would go around looking into anything that took change, like pay phones and such cause sometimes money would get stuck and some times they'd get lucky and find a quarter and the habit just stayed. When we got to the bus station, I positioned his bags at the proper stop and he stood there looking at me with a blank stare trying to understand what had just happened. He said just the fact that I noticed him had been enough, but to give him the time of day and help him without looking at him with pitty or thinking of him as a lesser person was something he had never experienced since his condition started. He didn't ask for money, didn't even ask my name even though I told it to him along the way. He was just grateful.

Nothing I did the rest of the evening, no one I spoke with and nothing I heard topped that. Complaints, gossip, yelling, people fighting over parking spaces, someone's manicure being ruined, their coffee wasn't done right... all sorts of meaningless things! Things that made me feel like maybe I should have just hung out with the guy instead. Someone who can appreciate life even when life has been hard on them. Someone who is perfectly aware of their limitations but is not limited by them. Someone who I started out "helping" and appreciated it not knowing that he's the one who helped me. Funny how the universe works.

I once heard someone say that there are two important days in our lives: the day we are born and the day we discover why. I'm not saying I'm out to save the world and that's my mission, but damn it if it doesn't sometimes feel like my heart is bigger than my body and I want everyone to have a piece of it.I made it to my destination some hours later and emptied the cat litter.