Lending a Helping Hand

I was late. I sped from one side of town to the other, barely stopping at those large red octagon things and other blinking lights. I had a massage to get to, after all. No time to relax. I was late. There was road construction everywhere and no parking on the main streets. I'd have to find a spot nestled somewhere on a residential side street. I found one a few blocks away from my massage therapist's office, quickly parallel parked, and power-walked down the avenue, oblivious to my surroundings. Not very "Power of Now" or "New Earthy," that's for sure. Bad awakener.

As I'm almost there (now 10 minutes late for my massage and cursing my poor time management skills since I'll likely lose precious massage time), a little old lady pardons herself and stops me to ask if I'd help her. Honestly, I look skeptically at her since she's standing outside a restaurant/pub, thinking she may want spare change, not that she looks particularly needy, but you never know. I may have held the purse strings a little tighter as I engaged with her. Then, she asked me if I wouldn't mind helping her across the street, what with all the road construction and busy traffic on the avenue and all. I instantly chided myself for acting like a twerp--assuming she wanted money instead of a hand across a busy intersection, but then again, I've never had the pleasure of helping a little old lady across the street before. I was out of my element. And running late. And I think I had all of a quarter in my wallet at the time.

So, I put my preconceived notions aside and let go of my need to be on time and "relaxed" and took an extra three minutes out of my day to help this stranger, a little old lady who lived in an apartment on the other side of the street, cross the street. She took my hand and I steadied her, as she said her legs were wobbly and felt like they'd give out. We weaved through the maze of construction and traffic and I led her up her apartment stairs. She was humble and grateful and sweet, and I felt really happy inside, knowing I had been given a gift. God had chosen me to help this little old lady cross the street--giving me the feeling of helping and slowing down enough to really be in the moment. As I took her hand, I felt her dry skin and her soft grasp and I put my arm around her back and felt the sun and the warm 70 degree wind through our hair. It was the best moment of the day, and reminded me how good it feels to help others, even strangers we may initially misjudge. I did lose 15 minutes of my massage time, but it was worth it. After all, it's not every day you have the chance to help a little old lady cross the street.