With everything going on in the world, my Friday just went from miserable to up-lifting.
TLDR, my roof was leaking and I was away from home. I got in touch with a home contractor to help and expected more of a ‘next-business-week’ kinda service. It was still raining and it was the weekend ahead. I was also ready to pay for the service and get the insurance company on the phone.
And this happened: even tho none of his crew members can make it, my contractor, Ty, made the effort to visit my home 5 days ahead of schedule, and helped to inspect the condition. He eventually offered to fix without charging.
Yeah, it may be a tiny favor after all from Ty, but he dragged us out from the cautious state with such kindness and generosity! He doesn’t know about me writing this down, but I am just so grateful for what he did.
There were a couple of times in life when others led me a hand when I was losing control of the situation. I shared my gratitude often towards the help of others. Usually, the help comes from friends who I have built a relationship with; and as a matter of fact, I could find my opportunities to be helpful to them and return the favor.
However, what happened today was out of my norms: Ty, my contractor, whom I have just spoken a few times over the phone but never met before did me such a great favor without asking for anything in return. That made my day! I have no immediate opportunity to return the favor so I’m writing it down.
How can a person be so nice to a stranger? Well, obviously people can be. I’m very lucky to meet one.
Now the ‘home crisis’ has been mitigated. The story kept me thinking over the weekend that, what did I do to deserve such kindness? Oh and, if I am ever losing control of some situation, I bet I would want someone like Ty to offer a hand.
It’s natural, I start thinking about volunteering. Sure, I offered help to friends in need but I have never done much to help strangers besides donating some stuff once a while. Maybe I can do a bit more with what I have? I have a few immatured ideas.
In a remote memory, my parents went to help people in need during one of the worst earthquakes in China. They carried on supplies, flew into the impacted region the first week when earthquakes took place, and they stayed for weeks to contribute. At the time I was very proud because none of the students in my class had such parents, but I never understood why they did it. It was dangerous, unpredictable, and fairly not their obligations.
I know fixing the roof isn’t the same level of example as helping victims in an earthquake, but I truly felt the warmness and kindness when a complete stranger offered help to me.
That was it. My parents did that because they thought it would be good to give back and they happened to have the strength and resource to do so at the time. Ty decided to help me out when he has the resource and skill, even though I am a stranger.
It almost feels like good karma paying back to my family. I’m just lucky to have great people around. I’m writing these thoughts down to share my gratitude. I’m inspired, and I hope to be more of a help to others too.
