Brighten Your Day

I was in my early twenties with a wife, a baby at home, and another on the way. I hadn’t been able to find a good paying job out of college and was struggling just to get by. The only work I could find was bussing tables and washing dishes at a local restaurant. I guess it didn’t bring out the best efforts in me because one day the manager spoke to me near the end of my shift, saying they were firing me. I was shocked, upset, angry, and afraid. What was I going to do now? How was I going to support my family?

As I clocked out I told one of the cooks what had happened. "Don’t let it bother you," he said. "It’s just a job. You will have a lot of them over the years. It isn’t who you are." Then he shook my hand, patted me on the back, and told me he would miss me. As I walked out to my car the anger and fear were lessening and there was also something else: a sense of Hope and a feeling that everything would be alright in the end. I drove home as the sun started to set and was thankful in my heart for those words from my coworker and friend.

William Wordsworth wrote: "The best portion of a good man’s life, His little, nameless, unremembered acts Of kindness and love." I don’t know if my friend remembered his kind act that day but I still do. He lifted me up in a moment when I was down. He gave me Hope to face my uncertainty and fear. He reminded me that my job is not who I am. And he showed me that when we give and receive kindness, life is worth living.

Sadly, I never saw my friend again. Maybe he too took another job and moved on. I do think wherever he is now, he is still doing God’s will, helping others, sharing love, and spreading goodness wherever he goes. I just pray that we all do the same. I just pray we all realize that our true job here is living each day with kindness and love.