“Treat people as if they were what they
ought to be, and you help them to become
what they are capable of being.”
– Goethe

 
If someone gave you a million dollars, how would that make you feel? I can see your faces now 🙂
If someone gave me a million dollars, I would think they were an angel sent from heaven. I might even start speaking in tongues, and depending on how heavy the person was, I would even lift them up with my bad back, spin them around and kiss them!
The fact of the matter is, we tend to treat those who can do for us, better than those who have nothing to offer us.
There are three experiences I have had, that really stands out in my mind that I am truly proud of. I make mention of them here not to brag, but to show you how I got more out of the act of giving, than doing the act itself.
I was appointed Student Counsel President my senior year of  high school. The first thing on our agenda, was not to plan the next party or social event for the students. But to honor the janitors and cafeteria workers in the school with a luncheon. The committee and I went all out, and instead of having them serve us, we served them for the day. That was 1992. Last year, I took my daughter to Jamaica. I wanted her to experience the Jamaican school system, so I took her back to my hight school (St. Hugh’s) for a tour. I was surprised when one of the recipients of the luncheon came up to me and said she still remembers what we did for them 18 years ago and how it made her feel. You can image how I felt hearing that with my daughter with me.
Be on the look out to be someone’s angel.
I went on a business trip. When I got to the airport, I was told the flight was delayed for 3 hours. Disappointed. But expected. Anyway, I thought I would use the opportunity to grab a bite to eat with my friend and catch up on old times. When I got outside, I saw this old lady crying, and  no one even stopped, to ask her what was wrong. So I approached her apprehensively, maybe these people knew something I didn’t know.
” What’s wrong mommy?”  I asked.
” I took up the wrong passport, and left the one with my visa back home and I can’t get in touch with the person who took me here,” she said crying.
At that moment I had a choice to make. Give up catching up with my friend,  or taking her home to get the right passport so she could make her flight.
Needless to say, I had a smile on my face, when I saw the little old lady leave me at the airport back in Florida with her family. They had no clue what she went through to get there.
Never take a person’s dignity: it is worth everything to them, and nothing to you.
My friend, never graduated from high school. Smart person, but the stigma of not having a high school diploma left him feeling inadequate. We got to talking one day, and we came up with a 90 day plan to have him complete this GED. Not only did he complete it. He is now in his second year of collage!
You never know how much the words you speak or your actions means to someone who think they are not worthy. The next time you are tempted to treat someone differently because they are not in your social class. Think again. Because tomorrow the person you reject today, could be the very person you will need to give you a helping hand.
Everyday we get an opportunity to be someone’s angel. What we do with that opportunity is up to us.
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