I hit pause on the inspirational message on YouTube at about the point that the speaker brought up generosity. My mind drifted to a good deed I had just done hours before.
A lady at work who appears to be a little older than me, maybe she’s not, I cannot tell, but perhaps that impression is because she scrubs the restroom floors while my work is done in an air-conditioned office. She was telling me of her 94-year-old mother‘s health and how she recently brought her to live in her home. Her story, shared with me in broken English, moved me with compassion. The next day I brought a heavy bag full of things that would be helpful to her and her elderly mother.
It felt good. It always does when you do even the smallest kindness for another. And then it hit me with a resounding smack that this thoughtfulness hadn’t actually cost me anything. I gave from what a family member had recently given me. Yes, I could’ve kept the gift and used it but I also could have provided it for myself just as easily. The fact that I passed it on, though it cost me nothing, suddenly hurt my heart a little. It felt great in the moment and the lady had a need met, yes. But it had cost me nothing and for some reason that realization rushed over me with an immediate flash flood of sorrow.
Just about as quickly though, a redeeming thought filled my heart and mind.
Sometimes things come to us as a way to get them where they’re supposed to go. Sometimes WE are the channel and not the intended recipient. Sometimes we get to be the one who passes on a blessing, opens a door of opportunity, or is otherwise the chosen conduit of supply for someone else’s need. There’s so much more in this than there is room to convey it here.
Bottom line? Stay open to being the passageway as sometimes the Provider is in need of a channel.
The Daily Cuppa Jo 