A Life of Service, Even if it Doesn’t Turn Out Like You Planned
you ever stumbled upon an opportunity to serve someone else, but hesitated and lost the chance? I know I have.
Throughout my life, there have been plenty of times when I’ve kicked myself for letting an oppor- tunity to serve someone in need pass me by.
In an effort to avoid the regret of failing to do a good deed, I decided a few years ago to keep a sharp eye out for opportunities to help those around me.
It didn’t take long for an opportu- nity to literally appear right in front of my car. I was sitting in the drive- through at a local Wendy’s on a cold winter evening, waiting for my food. The Wendy’s establishment I was visiting happened to be attached to a leave with happy, tingly feelings in- gas station, and I noticed a homeless side. I imagined him biting into the man pushing a Junior Bacon Cheeseburger with grocery cart full bliss and washing it down with a of his belongings refreshing swig of Diet Dr. Pepper. from garbage can Instead, his eyebrows pursed and to garbage can a look of confusion filled his face. beneath the gas After a moment, he responded, station awning. “Uh, no.”
I was very ner- That wasn’t part of the plan. My vous, but I made face flushed red as I took a second up my mind that look at the “homeless man” and I would offer my his cart full of belongings. To my food to the man. I pulled up next to horror, I saw the scene for what him just as he started leaning into it really was: a cart full of garbage another garbage can. He stopped bags the man had just changed. He and looked at me questioningly as I wasn’t dumpster-diving for food. He rolled down my window. I mustered wasn’t even homeless. He worked up my courage and blurted out, “are there. you hungry?” I sheepishly said “OK,” rolled up
I expected him to say yes, and then my window and drove away, hoping I expected to hand him my food and passersby wouldn’t be blinded by the scarlet hue of my face. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that kindness fail, or how embarrassed it made me feel.
As my experience so gracefully illustrates, serving others doesn’t always turn out how you planned. But you should do it anyway.
Reaching out to someone in need can be scary and put you in a vul- nerable position.
Do it anyway. The truth is, if I hadn’t stopped and offered my food to that non-homeless man that day, I would have regretted it for months afterward.
Thanks to the promise I made to myself to look for opportunities to serve, I have no regrets about the experience and a funny story to tell my kids.