Acceptance

At home, things were different.

When somebody did something stupid or got himself fired from a job, I sometimes associated that action with the person. I might not ask them for help on another project because I know they have flaked out before, or interact with them differently because I feel I have some new insight into their person.

But I find that the way I interact with people has changed.

There was a security guard at my school. He was, quite honestly, a pretty bad security guard. He slept on the job, left the gate unlocked while he was sleeping, and sometimes just missed work for no reason at all. He got fired a few weeks ago. A year ago, if I had seen him after these events, I might have thought to myself “he deserved that” and “why should I bother with this person when he can’t even keep his job?”

But I saw this particular man this morning, when I was out for a run. Not only did I stop to greet him, but the first thing I said was “we miss you over by the school.” And I surprised myself, because when I thought about it, this was true. He’s a great guy who, regardless of his work ethic, really cared about the kids. I invited him to visit me at home sometime this week so that we can try to work out a sports program for our learners. Because even if this man isn’t a great security guard, he’s loves soccer and is interested in helping out. And if I have a reasonably good person who is eager to help out, well, I’m certainly not going to turn that away.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, when it comes down to it, you just have to be grateful for the people in your life. Whatever they are willing to do, and wherever and whenever they happen to be motivated to help out others, well, I’m learning to be grateful for those small things.