Receiving the kindness of strangers

As we enter in to this new year filled with intentions and resolutions, the one question I start each new day with is:  “God, what do you have in store for me today?” My intention is to truly begin living my life in the flow of the grace of God instead of the rigid constraints of my own thoroughly constructed To Do list.

My life thus far has been judged (by myself) and categorized by how much I could overcome, how fiercely independent I could be and how I could accomplish things all on my own.  Be strong!  If you ask for help or show that you are in need you are exposing your weakness.  Seems a bit twisted I know, but this was how I rolled and I congratulated myself every time I could get thru something difficult without having to rely on anyone else.  In a world of connection and community I was the bricklayer building my brick walls to show how resilient I was, how strong and capable and how I could do it on my own without anyone else.  It was my protection, it was my own self constructed prison.

Thank God for waking up!  The truth is that I need people.  We ALL need people…we all need each other not just to survive but to thrive and truly experience what life is trying to show us and teach us and shower upon us in each moment of each day.  Our lessons are learned in the classroom of life and the classroom of life is not a classroom of ONE.  As I wrote the word ‘constraints’ in the paragraph above it really hit home to me and so I looked up the definition and it is this:  Constraint is the element factor or a subsystem that works as a bottleneck. It restricts an entity, project, or system (such as a manufacturing or decision making process) from achieving its potential (or higher level of output) with reference to its goal.

Well…no wonder.  The constraints that I perceived were keeping me focused, in line, on task and achieving were in fact creating the bottleneck to my own potential. It was the brick wall between me and my own higher self.   How can we possibly become all we are meant to be in this world if we close off from the source?  The answer is we can’t.  I certainly can’t.  So this is the quest, to open to Grace and recognize my own potential in each lesson of each day.

So as I asked the question yesterday morning:  “God, what do you have in store for me today?”  I got a wonderful reminder, a lesson of what it means to ask for help and receive fully the kindness of strangers.  I got in my car to leave for work and as I turned the key, instead of the engine turning over I got a buzzing and a series of clicks and…absolutely NOTHING.  My battery was dead.  Really dead.  So in my strong, resilient way I went back up to my apartment to find a place that I could take the car to replace the battery and call for a tow.  I found a shop not too terribly far away (but not super close either) and got some quotes on towing.  All in all it was going to cost me close to $200 which I was not planning on and was not too happy about.  In a moment of clarity I decided to first ask the staff in the apartment office if they could be of help before I called a tow truck.  I walked in to the office and asked if there was anyone who was able to jump-start a car and wouldn’t you know it there just happened to be two maintenance men in the office at that very moment who said they would be glad to help out.

As they were getting the car running again these kind gentlemen asked where I was taking my car for a battery and I told them what I had found.  They immediately told me of a much closer place, just down the street (that I had never seen before) and it would be 1/2 the price.  I thanked them both for their kindness and their help and  I drove to the shop they recommended.  The man who assisted me at the shop was equally helpful and friendly and offered me a wonderful discount.  All in all I only had to spend $78.00.

The most important thing I took away from this experience were the looks and smiles I received from those kind strangers.  I realized that by allowing them to help me and by receiving their help with open-ness and gratitude I gave them the opportunity to feel like they were being the knights in shining armor, they were being of service. I was letting them feel that what they had to offer was of value and I let them feel my gratitude.  I could see it in their faces.  In the past, my stubborn attitude of resilience not only blocked my connection to others but I also can see how I was robbing them of the wonderful feeling of giving back, of helping others and being of service.  The lesson I am once again reminded of is that it is just as important to receive the kindness of strangers as it is to give kindness to strangers.

Live in Grace.  Receive the Love.

Amy

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