Grow By Caring For Someone Else!
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. – Leo Buscaglia, a teacher at the University of Southern California and New York Times best selling author, who worked actively to overcome social and mental barriers that inhibited the expression of love between people, from family to acquaintances, disabled, institutionalized, elderly and complete strangers.
There are times when you witness an image so powerful that it moves you somewhere deep inside and very emotionally. Those moments when other people display a core emotion so freely and openly that it seems to awaken our own suppressed or unrealized feelings. That very thing happened to me this weekend as I was walking through an open air shopping mall. Headed back to my car I noticed a family walking towards me; a mother, father and a son in a wheelchair. At first glance the most obvious trait was the beaming smiles on all of them, just like they didn’t have a care in the world! I’m talking about that look that says, “we’re milking the day for all it’s worth leaving nothing undone!” No question a wonderful site…but there was a detail even more compelling that had me riveted as they seemed to pass by me in super slow motion…
The son was obviously going through some treatment that had caused him to lose all of his hair which had just begun to grow back in. In a clear act of solidarity, the mother had shaved her head clean and it too was just starting to grow back in. There they were, mother and son strapped together with an outward display of love and more importantly defiance in the face of suffering! Just writing this almost brings me to tears….but why? Maybe it’s because we spend so much of our time covering up our true feelings, holding them back like a pack of wild horses that simply break free when provoked like this! If this was not enough just one minute later it happened again! As I neared my car, I noticed another group of women…one in a wheelchair being pushed by what appeared to be her daughter and another family member walking along all smiling brightly! The woman in the wheel chair had both legs amputated from the knee down…so I thought even deeper…how much work does it really require for these people to help their disabled family members simply get in and out of a car, let alone get dressed and perform the simplest of daily tasks. Although validating our vision of true hard work, these people were going much deeper and fueling this all with true love.
So what about you? Do you cringe when that word comes into a discussion and ask: what does that have to do with business or me? My argument is that it has everything to do with all that you do. For all you parents, you know that your life is all about the love of your children. How about you children now caring for an elderly parent? We have to be real and take note that our caring of others, no matter stranger or friend, is the true foundation for success and happiness. Once upon a time ago I was taught as a young man to become a “person for others.” I think I’m beginning to understand why that advice was so important and I hope you do as well.
