I heard a story the other day that reminded me of what we're trying to crystallize on 10.10 day -- this idea of selfless giving --giving without needing or wanting anything in return.
A friend was saying how she occassionally has to walk a few blocks from her office to the post office. The other day she had to bring some money along to pay for postage, and got some change back from the transaction.
Well, not having any pockets, she didn't want to carry the bills and loose change back, so thought, What can I do with this money? She saw a young mother walking along with two small kids and thought, Bingo.
Approaching the mother, she said, "Can you do me a favor? I have some change and no pockets or anything to carry it in -- I'd love to give this to you to buy your children some ice cream?" The mother was taken aback at first -- it isn't every day that someone approaches you with pro-ice cream-directives like this. :) But then she was very grateful and said she was off to do just that.
I'd like to think that that kind of pay-it-forward thinking replicates itself. Who knows? Maybe that mom or the kids went on and gave half of their ice cream to another friend that wasn't there at the time. You just never know. An ordinary act with the possibility for extraordinary results. That's just the kind of thing we like.
A friend was saying how she occassionally has to walk a few blocks from her office to the post office. The other day she had to bring some money along to pay for postage, and got some change back from the transaction.
Well, not having any pockets, she didn't want to carry the bills and loose change back, so thought, What can I do with this money? She saw a young mother walking along with two small kids and thought, Bingo.
Approaching the mother, she said, "Can you do me a favor? I have some change and no pockets or anything to carry it in -- I'd love to give this to you to buy your children some ice cream?" The mother was taken aback at first -- it isn't every day that someone approaches you with pro-ice cream-directives like this. :) But then she was very grateful and said she was off to do just that.
I'd like to think that that kind of pay-it-forward thinking replicates itself. Who knows? Maybe that mom or the kids went on and gave half of their ice cream to another friend that wasn't there at the time. You just never know. An ordinary act with the possibility for extraordinary results. That's just the kind of thing we like.
No comments:
Post a Comment