Amazingness is relative
to the situation and in this day of instant everything, it is sometimes
difficult to maintain a perspective on what is really important but four years
ago, while visiting my husband in the hospital, I met a lady who altered my view
of life.
While at the hospital, we
often escaped my husband’s tiny space and sat on one of the benches provided
for hall-walkers. Mostly we discussed the state of the health care system, the
dinginess of the hospital and the friendly and efficient but overworked staff.
One day, we heard a woman
humming as she approached our bench. Dressed in hospital scrubs, she was
pushing a cart loaded with bottled water which she was distributing to
patients. Friendly and enthusiastic, she radiated joy. “How are you today? Are you thirsty? Would
you like a bottle of water?”
We’re fine, no thanks, we
said, but she stopped to talk. “Do you know,” she said, in her sing-song
accent, “that I have the very most important job in the hospital? I am the
water-bearer. In my country there is no life without water and the person who
brings the water is the most important person in the village. Where I come
from, we spend our lifetime searching for it. I must go now and take the water
to these people.” In a sweeping movement, her arm indicated the rooms in the
hallway in front of her and, continuing to hum, off she went.
The whole conversation
took about one minute but it had a huge impact on me. While I spent my time
thinking about what I didn’t like or didn’t have, she was content with her life
and what she could give back. Her service to others fed her spirit and the
pleasure it gave her shone through her eyes and landed on all who met her. I
envied her selflessness and the peace she conveyed.
While I was complaining,
this lady was doing the most important job in the world and was happily at
peace with her ability to perform a service for others – a lesson in how to
bloom where you are planted and in the reward of giving to others.
from airdrielife magazine (Spring 2015 issue)
