“A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.”
— Steve Maraboli
Last week an elderly woman stood before me struggling to find the money in her wallet to purchase stamps. She was trying to mail thank you cards for the sympathy expressed to her at her husband’s recent funeral.
When she learned the price of stamps she told the postal clerk she could not afford to pay. She was going to run back to her to car to see if she could find some extra money there. The woman also confided that she had not bought stamps before. Her husband always took care of those types of tasks.
Listening to the exchange, I knew the woman’s overwhelm extended beyond money. She was learning to stand on her own for the first time since her husband died.
I went over to the postal clerk, handed her my debit card and paid for the woman’s stamps. With tears in her eyes, the woman came over and asked if she could give me a hug. We held each other a long time, and I whispered in her ear, “Please know you are never alone. You are loved.”
My gift to her was not the money; it was the level of presence I provided during a vulnerable time in this woman’s life. I could “hear” her struggles.
I have been blessed through my transitions in creating anew of people who heard my struggles and supported me in a variety of ways.
Paying it forward felt great.
In helping clients create a new mindset for living based on a greater sense of self-love and worthiness, I believe stepping it up, with generosity of heart, is crucial.
- Step it up by moving out of your comfort zone of the familiar, and try something new and different.
- Step it up by shifting the focus from self to service, and extend a random act of kindness to another.
- Step it up by choosing to be loving and forgiving even when it feels easier (or warranted) to be angry.
Can you step it up by choosing to be present in your unique way to someone in need this week?
To soaring generously together,
Gail
Embrace compassion for yourself, which is a great way to increase self-esteem. To learn more, email [email protected] to inquire about Gail’s unique coaching programs. And, if you want to be placed on the announcement list for her new book, “Cancer as a love story: Developing a mindset for living,” please include the words “add me to the list” in the subject line of your email.
Thanks to my friend, Chris Young, of Beverly, Mass., for providing this gorgeous photo of stairs, which he shot in Gandria, on Lake Lugano, Switzerland.
Originally published at www.supportmatters.com.