Tribute to a town's icon..........................

I went to our grocery store up town the other night, (We are always out of some staple) and as I was leaving a lady ask for my help with her survey. Seems they were plotting out where their shoppers came from. As I told her my address, she said "That's where _________ lived, right?" I answered, "Yes! In fact our subdivision used to be his families farm, and our street is named after him family." I then went on to tell her I had not seen this gentleman out and about lately, and she informed me this was due to the fact that he has suffered a stroke, and was still pretty ill. This is sad news indeed, for his family and friends. It is also sad news for our entire town.

You see, this man has been blind since he was a child. In spite of his handicap, he has lived a full rich life. He always managed to figure out a way to do the things he wanted and needed too, and did so with a cheerful disposition. Whenever you went up town, you could pretty much count on seeing him walking either to or from his home. Whenever you spotted him, it was a given that he would either already having someone assisting him in crossing the street,offering him a ride, or making sure he had been able to complete all his errands or else within minutes someone would be doing so. Everyone in our town from small children to his peers looked out and after him. What a gift he has been to our town!

The fact that everyone wanted to help him speaks volumes about his character. (Nobody went out of their way to help Ebenezer Scrooge now did they?) This gentleman is at least in his eighties. Generations of parents have been teaching their children valuable lessons without saying a word as they helped him cross the street, or simple treated him with courtesy and respect. As generations of children have grown up, they in turn have passed those values onto their own children. Our town is a better place for having had him choose to spend his entire life here.

I am positive that if you sat down and talked with him, he would totally disagree that he was any kind of hero. He would say he was just an ordinary guy getting through his day, doing what he could to help out others and take care of himself. He would probably disagree that his willingness to accept help is a very big deal. And yet this is something that most of us have lots of trouble doing. (In case you haven't already figured this out..... My hand is in the air.... Guilty as charged!) We somehow get the notion that asking for help is a sign of weakness or inferiority, that another will use against us in a negative way. We tend to over look the value of being willing to accept help from others. I am always looking for ways to help others, and know how great I feel when I am able to do so. Why then, do I find it so difficult to be an opprotunity for someone to experience that same great feeling by denying them the pleasure of helping me out? Possibly it has to do with low self-esteem and feeling unworthy of other's help. Could it be I am still trying to over-come the "You'll never amount to anything messages of my past? It is sooooo yesterday's news! Get over it Patty!

Case in point........ A few weeks back, one of my resident's relatives sent me a very large (to me anyway) check. I was unable to accept this, and had all kinds of valid reasons for doing so. (Just doing my job, it was no big deal, we agreed on a fee for service, nothing else is neccessary, etc...) The next time she came to visit I forced her to take back the check. Two days later it suddenly occured to me that I had done what I just finished discribing in the above paragraph. I had denied her the pleasure of giving me an over the top gift. In my quest to be (I am not even really sure what I was trying to be?) I could not even see what I was taking away from her. I had had the pleasure of giving over the top gifts a time or two, and I felt terrible that I had refused to be the recipient of one.

The plan was to write her a letter and apologize once I woke to the error of my ways. I never got around to doing so, (too much time spent blogging I guess) but the next time she came to visit I shared my insights with her, and ask her forgivness. (Of course she was very understanding about the whole thing.) What a great lesson I learned. I am hopeful that I will find it to be a break through, and the next time I am faced with a similar situation that I behave more graciously.

So...... The next time you are quick to brush off help, or dis-credit your worth, (You know you do it!) look at it from the other person's perspective. Maybe they are in the process of learning how to offer help, and/or put others ahead of themselves. Maybe being able to be of service to you, or help you to get something you might not other wise be able to have/do will make their month. Who are you to take something that great from them, just because of the junk you are working through? (Talking to myself here.......) I am a firm believer of "what goes around comes around." I have to just keep my heart open to accepting the gifts that come around my way. I plan to give new meaning to the phrase "Don't look a gift-horse in the mouth." I will let you know how I am blessed as a result of my new found attitude.