“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
When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else.
- Georgia O'Keefe
When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else.
- Georgia O'Keefe
I was kinda glum yesterday. It was a rainy, gray Monday and tax day. Bluck. Walking home from the post office after mailing our tax return, I noticed a woman trimming roses outside her house. She threw a big peach one onto the grass.
"Wow," I said, "That's huge."
"They're called 'Just Joey,' roses," she laughed. "Can you believe it?" She picked it up off the grass, and showed me how all the petals were falling off. Then, she walked back to the bush and snipped off one rose.
"Would you like it?" she asked.
"Sure!"
She trimmed off a few of the leaves and thorns from the stem, and handed it to me. It was still tight in the bud, and covered in mist. I thanked her, and we introduced ourselves. Even though we live just a few houses down from each other, we'd never met.
For the rest of the day, I watched the rose open and enjoyed its incredible smell as I typed away.
I often think I have to make a big impact to make the world a better place (my company is called Big Vision Consulting for heaven's sake), but honestly, it's the little things, and the collection of many small actions, that really make a difference.
Has a small act of caring by someone ever turned your day around?
Image: It's all the same rose! I formatted the photos with Instagram and put them in the square with Diptic.
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Britt, Just Joey is my most favorite rose! I'm so glad it helped to make your day better and also helped you make a new friend!
ReplyDeleteone of my oldest friends is a man i smiled at 35 years ago. to this day he says i saved his life, with that one smile.
ReplyDeletewe never know how a kind word, look, or gesture can ripple out and impact someone else's life, which will impact someone else's, and on and on.
which is why i smile at all the oncoming drivers when i am stuck in traffic.
:)
Tina ~ I wish we had enough sun in my yard to grow them. The rose is still opening and smells incredible!
ReplyDeleteTaza ~ Thank you for sharing your story. What a lovely practice, to smile at oncoming drivers (: