Category: Inspiration

https://x.com/cooltechtipz/status/1922462752666161159

I Hope You Find A Love That…

This is not only what to look for but also the beingness to aspire to.

I hope you find this.

Linda Paice writes:

I thought of this as I was driving home just now and saw an old man walking slowly along the street, then he turned around and started shuffling the other way. I was worried he was confused and lost, so I pulled over and observed him.

After a minute, it looked like he was just exercising as he was going up and down the block, but I wanted to make sure so I drove around to the other side of the road and through my window asked cheerfully if he was exercising. (Cheerfully as I didn’t want to possibly make him feel strange about being checked on due to being old!)

He instantly smiled a warm, friendly smile and walked straight over to my car and said yes he has a heart condition and the doctor said he has to exercise. We launched straight into a great chat, him asking if I live in the neighborhood, proudly pointing out his pretty house, me asking where he was from and that kind of thing. It was so sweet!

As I drove away I was thinking of how he instantly engaged and went from looking somewhat forlorn to so bright and happy to be connecting. I’ve seen this so many times with elderly people. It breaks my heart to think of how overlooked and neglected they can be within society. We’re all busy and rushing about, it’s easy to pass by without considering that, but many old people are desperately lonely.

So, I thought I would post this should it inspire someone to reach out to an elderly stranger or an elderly person they know. Whether it’s a longer visit or just a quick chat – sometimes, if there’s no chance to stop, even eye contact and a warm smile visibly makes a world of difference.

And to be clear, the joy is not one-sided! Old people are the best! So wise, such incredible experiences and stories, and those beautiful old school manners and values. They just melt my heart!

So I’m sending some love out to them!

“If you are working on something that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.” – Steve Jobs, Entrepreneur (1955 – 2011)

This is my neighbor.
He has no idea I took this photo from my window.
When my husband was deployed, one of the worries we had was about the grass.
Who would maintain the yard?
I could go out there and cut the grass myself, but with everything I had on my plate with the two girls, I wasn’t feeling it.
We could try and find a lawn service, but that still meant me having to make sure it got done and that they did a good job.
I wanted as little additional worry as possible while my husband was deployed.
This is where Steve comes in.
I sent him a text and told him about the deployment. I wasn’t sure if he would say yes, but I asked.
“Could you help cut our grass? He will cut it today before he deploys tomorrow, but it would be great if you could cut it and help me maintain it while he is gone. We can pay you.”
He responded right away that it wasn’t a problem at all and that he would not accept payment. He wanted to help.
I let my husband know, and we both breathed a sigh of relief.
When your husband is deployed, whatever worry you can take off your plate means the world.
Knowing the grass would be taken care of was enormous stress off my shoulders.
About an hour later, daddy was playing with his girls.
He was trying to soak up as much time as possible with them before deploying the next day.
He told them he could play for a bit, but he also had to go outside and cut the grass soon.
Then we heard it.
A mower.
My husband said, “Aliette, Steve is cutting the grass! Maybe he misunderstood that we didn’t need him to help us until next week when I’m already gone.”
I went outside. “Steve, we didn’t need you to start until next week, and he was going to do it today before he leaves tomorrow.”
Steve responded, “I know. But I’m not the one about to leave my family for deployment. He can spend time with his family, and I got it.”
My face swelled with tears.
Tears of worry, gratitude, anxiety, relief all rolled into one.
It all came pouring out on Steve, who probably thought I was a bit overly emotional about grass.
But it wasn’t about the grass.
It was about the gift of time he gave us.
A neighbor stepped up to help when we needed it.

As I came back inside, I thought of Mr. Rogers.
It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood,
A beautiful day for a neighbor.
So let’s make the most of this beautiful day,
Since we’re together, we might as well say,
Won’t you be my neighbor?

“I read so many books, but I forgot most of them. But then what’s the point of reading? ”
This was the question a pupil once asked his Master.

The Master didn’t answer at that moment. After a few days, however, while he and the young pupil were sitting by a river, he said he was thirsty and asked the boy to get some water from him using an old filthy sieve that was there on the ground.

The pupil moved, because he knew it was a request without any logic.

However, he couldn’t contradict his own Master and, when he got the filter, he began to do this absurd task. Every time he was drowning the sieve in the river to pull some water to take to his Master, he couldn’t even take a step towards him because there wasn’t even a drop left in the sieve.
He tried and tried dozens of times but, as he tried to run faster from the shore to his Master, the water kept going through all the holes in the sieve and got lost along the way.

Exhausted, he sat next to the Master and said: “I can’t fetch water with that filter. Forgive me Master, it is impossible and I failed in my task.”

“No – the old man replied smiling – you have not failed. Look at the filter it’s like new now. Water, filtering through its holes cleaned it.”

“When you read books – the old Master continued – you are like the sieve and they are like the water of the river.”

“It doesn’t matter if you can’t hold in your memory all the water they make you flow, because books will anyway, with their ideas, emotions, feelings, knowledge, truth that you will find between the pages, clean your mind and spirit, and you they will make you a better, renewed person. That’s the point of reading.”

Have a good read everyone.