Carnal Zen

Several years ago, on my way to work one morning I met with a suprise at the tollbooth.  The attendant explained that the gentleman ahead of me had paid my toll.  Assuming it was a friend, I sped up to get a closer look.  To my surprise, it was a perfect stranger who received my wave of thanks.  It was the kind of gesture that restored my faith in humanity and thereafter  I began a practice of paying the toll for strangers behind me at a toll booth.  These random acts of kindness were my way of making the world a better place for less than a dollar.  The truth though - is that tiny effort kept me smiling all morning long.  Since Sunpass was invented I haven’t had that reason to smile to myself throughout the day.

This week was really blessed.  After lots of missed deadlines and false hope - Mate finally arrived on my doorstep, champagne in hand.  A really sweet young couple with an infant daughter will move into my condo next week.  A favorite Uncle came in for a quick visit.  What I’m feeling - is exhale.  Now that I have breathing room to replace the bald car tires and payoff some credit cards I’m not waiting until Thanksgiving to give back.  The economy stinks.  Times are hard - but if you can give - even if it’s just a little cash or a few hours of your time - you really can change the world.  Pick a cause and just do it.  Don’t think of it as charity - think of it as giving yourself something to smile about all day long.  In this life - every smile means a lot.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 27th, 2008 at 8:41 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.