Looking up or down?
A few weeks ago I was in New York for a training. I left the training on a Thursday at 3:00 to head to La Guardia airport for my plane that was boarding at 5:45. When I came out on the street there was construction before me. I needed to walk over a few blocks before calling for an Uber. As I reached the corner with my classmate I noticed a young woman with a large suitcase similar to mine in size. Her face looked sad and confused. We made eye contact. I tapped her on the shoulder and said, "Are you ok?" She responded with, "This has been the worst 48 hours of my life." I said, "I am so sorry. Is there anything we can do to help you?" She said, "I just can't figure out the best way to get to La Guardia airport." I could not believe it, here we are standing near 4th and Broadway and we bump into each other. At that moment our Uber pulled up and we offered her a ride to La Guardia. I was so grateful I was looking up. It would have been so easy to have missed each other.
On the ride to La Guardia she cried softly as she told us her story. She is a teacher and one of her students recently died while having a seizure. She was heading to Ireland for a four week Master's program in Education. In addition to her devastation for the loss of this student's life she would not make it to the funeral. We comforted her to the best of our abilities. This was just a sad story and mostly we listened. Beyond that there is little we could do. Our presence was all we had to offer and it was enough.
I have reflected on this day and shared this story with many. I remind myself of it daily. Our lives intersected and I hope this happens to me again in my life. We could have gone any way when we left our building, but we went in the path of this young girl, we literally intersected each other. It reminded me of a scene from a movie, it was surreal. Had their been other times in my life this could have happened yet I was not aware enough to see the opportunity?
As I move through my days and think of this woman and the awareness we had for each other I will remind myself of the many life lessons that arose in this chance encounter.
We need to look up from our cell phones and our busy life, it is the only way we will see each other. People need help at times and what a gift it is to be there for someone. Though my own life has struggles I continue to hold on to the gratitude of what I do have. Sharing is truly caring, we may have squished into our Uber with our 3 large suitcases, but we would all do it again any day or any time. We found comfort in our company. It would have been easy to walk by and not initiate contract, I am so glad that was not a choice in my mind. No fear, or caution came to thought, the only question was "Are you ok?"
Today take time to look up, see everyone around you, be present, who knows you may have the chance to help someone in need and feel in your heart and soul what I took away on a Thursday afternoon as I traveled through New York City with my new friend and classmate Carly!
On the ride to La Guardia she cried softly as she told us her story. She is a teacher and one of her students recently died while having a seizure. She was heading to Ireland for a four week Master's program in Education. In addition to her devastation for the loss of this student's life she would not make it to the funeral. We comforted her to the best of our abilities. This was just a sad story and mostly we listened. Beyond that there is little we could do. Our presence was all we had to offer and it was enough.
I have reflected on this day and shared this story with many. I remind myself of it daily. Our lives intersected and I hope this happens to me again in my life. We could have gone any way when we left our building, but we went in the path of this young girl, we literally intersected each other. It reminded me of a scene from a movie, it was surreal. Had their been other times in my life this could have happened yet I was not aware enough to see the opportunity?
As I move through my days and think of this woman and the awareness we had for each other I will remind myself of the many life lessons that arose in this chance encounter.
We need to look up from our cell phones and our busy life, it is the only way we will see each other. People need help at times and what a gift it is to be there for someone. Though my own life has struggles I continue to hold on to the gratitude of what I do have. Sharing is truly caring, we may have squished into our Uber with our 3 large suitcases, but we would all do it again any day or any time. We found comfort in our company. It would have been easy to walk by and not initiate contract, I am so glad that was not a choice in my mind. No fear, or caution came to thought, the only question was "Are you ok?"
Today take time to look up, see everyone around you, be present, who knows you may have the chance to help someone in need and feel in your heart and soul what I took away on a Thursday afternoon as I traveled through New York City with my new friend and classmate Carly!
Comments
Post a Comment