I don't know about you, but there are just some days when I get home, exhuasted from another day, and i just feel like I accomplished nothing. I wonder what good I am doing, how my redundant, day in day out routine is getting me anywhere or making a difference in the world at all. What does going to school everyday, then to work at the little resturant I work at do for anyone? What is the point? Sometimes I just pray to God that there has to be something bigger, a bigger plan, or goal, or purpose for my life. But what I realized that I need to be praying to God isn't what is next, what bigger project can I do, but God, what do you have for me to do right here right now? Maybe this is a transition period, maybe there is a reason that God has me where I am today, maybe there is a purpose to it. So I realized instead of trying to push past where I am at right now, that I need to make the most of where I am at right now.
One day, just a few days before Christmas, I was at work, just excited to be done and get out of there so I could finish my Christmas shopping and enjoy the festivities of the Holiday season. I wasn't really grumbling about being at work, just wasn't exactly over joyed to have to be there. Toward the end of the day, a man called in and placed an order for a special order, rather unusual type of Pizza. We thought it was an odd request and we made the Pizza, cut it and put it in the box for it to be picked up. After packing it, I happened to grab a marker that was sitting right by me and I wrote "Merry Christmas" in big letters, doodling a little on the box to make it festive looking. One of the other employess remarked "What if they don't celebrate Christmas?" somehting I hadn't even considered, and I thought oh well. When the man came to pick up his pizza, he was so nice and thanked us for special making the Pizza. As my manager handed the man the box, she remarked that i had written the little note on the top of the box. He stopped and told us how his wife was in a special care home because she had been sick for an extremely long time. He said the pizza was a special treat for her because she wasn't supposed to eat a lot of that type of food and they really didn't have a lot of money because of all the treatments that she was having to recieve. He told us that she had been down a lot lately and that she would really appreciate the note. We thought that was cool, but thought nothing of it and continued on with our day. About and hour and a half later the man called back, and just sincerely thanked us again for making the pizza. he told us his wife thought it was the best pizza she had, had in a long time, And then he went on to tell us that she loved the note so much, that when he handed her the box and she saw it, she broke down to tears. She thought it was so sweet that some stranger would think enough of her to write her "Merry Christmas." It wasn't like I had done any big task, and it took me maybe 30 seconds to do. I hadn't even thought much of it, but to her, it meant the world.
Sometimes we get so caught up in the day to day, that we feel like there is nothing we can do. There is no difference we can make, but maybe, maybe it's not in the big things in life. Maybe you don't have to go to Africa and help people over there, or donate tons of money to a charity. Maybe there are things that we can do in our redundant, everyday life. Maybe just a note of encouragement, or a smile, or paying for the person behind us in line, or stopping to hold a door open for someone, or just taking a minute to ask someone about there day, take a moment to care. Ask someone if you can pray for them, send someone a card, or pick something up for someone that you see because it reminded you of them. Maybe just having patients with someone. Sometimes we don't have to be doing major things. Sometimes there is something little we can do that makes all the difference and can make someone's day. Maybe we just need to open our eyes to those around us. So many times we think about things we could have done, or wished we would have done after the fact, but we neglect to open our eyes in the moment.
So the next time you have one of those days where you feel like you are doing nothing to make a difference or you are tired of your day to day, don't feel defeated, but go and watch for the little things you can do. Because, not only will you make someone else's day, but it will make yours too. It is amazing how good it feels to do something for someone else.
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
That was incredibly thoughtful of the man to return and tell you how much that meant to his wife. (As well as being thoughtful of you, even though you might not have realized it at the time!)
It's fun to brighten up someone else's day, even when we might not get credit.
Have you heard the Christmas ballad about the little boy buying shoes for his mother? You're completely right, little things mean the world.
It is amazing how the little things can make such a difference in someone's life. When I was about 5, our neighbor let one of his freinds come out to his place to fish. The man was probably in his sixties. It started to rain all of the sudden while he was on the dock, so I ran down to help him carry his fishing stuff up. To this day, whenever he comes out to fish he still mentions how I helped him that day. And to be honest, I didn't really think helping him was that big of a deal! It really makes me realize how much of an impact I can have on others without even knowing it. Great post!
Generallee