Just another story

I’ve been talking to my neighbor about life in general…
My neighbor is a retired woman who had lost her son last summer, and she takes care of her handicapped daughter. I wonder how her world might look. Is it gray, blue or pink? She doesn’t seem to have the same questions as I have. She just lives the same day over and over with unchanged exuberance. So, her mother told me about how she went shopping at Wall-Mart in the morning, paid for her groceries and left the card in front of the store to go and bring her car. She didn’t take it with her because it was raining and, by the time she returned, someone had stolen the cart. She looked at peace when she said that maybe the person who took it needed more than her.
The episode made me wonder how many people have to steal because they are hungry, or the little money they have doesn’t permit them to buy everything they want. Probably in that cart it was something they desired so badly that they didn’t even care they’ve used someone’s life savings. Not too long ago I’ve come across someone who lives in a country where they are asked to lie, cheat or steal to meet the ends, where the light is cut off every other day. The lack of opportunities transformed them into professional liars. Not a very honorable profession, but for them it is work.
Today, I look at everything I have, and I’m grateful for my health, for my job, for the people who are part of my life. Everything is precious, but we don’t realize it until we meet someone less fortunate than us, someone who knows tomorrow it’ll be just another dark day when they’ll have to survive with the same bowl of rice as the day before, when they‘ll have to perform the same job, the less honorable work.
Let’s be grateful for everything we have. Let’s practice kindness, share the surplus because we never know when we will become angels in someone’s life.