He Lives On The Streets, And She Just Buried Her Child.

TODAY is proof that the little things count, because the little things are all I have.

I was waitressing today when a homeless man Ive never seen before passed by the window of Zino’s.

He looked exhausted, and as usual, I was overwhelmed with the feeling of wanting to help. So I went outside, and I called out to him to come back. His name is Alex. He’s a veteran of Desert Shield, and he’s an ex marine with PTSD.

I told him a customer had called in a meal to the wrong location, and asked him if he’d do me the favor of accepting it so that chef wouldn’t find out and get angry.

Before I ran outside, I’d asked the kitchen to make me up a gyro sandwich with a side of fries. Then I stood to talk with Alex for a few minutes to make sure the food would be ready.

Alex doesn’t have a phone so he can’t make appointments at the VA. That means he doesn’t get, or take his medicine on a regular basis. I asked him if I could buy him a soda, and he’d said he’d been craving ice tea for months.

I went in, poured an ice tea, rang up his meal, and then I paid for it. When I took it out to him, I thanked him for helping me out. I was rewarded with a hug, a kiss on the cheek, and a “God bless you.”

Helping Alex cheered me up so I was all smiles when a friend I knew from Providence hospital came in. She’d lost her nine year old son to cancer back in June, and she looked as exhausted, and as beaten down as Alex.

When it was time to pay, I told her that one of the other customers had already taken care of her meal. It wasn’t really a lie, because I’d bought a meal for Alex earlier, that technically made me a customer. Lol

If I were to add up today’s and yesterday’s tips, subtract my Uber rides to and from work, then subtract the two meals, I’m in the hole.

Some of my friends view my day as a failure because of monatry loss, but I chose to look at it differently.

Many of us wish we were in a better position to help others. We see, and hear about good deeds being done by wealthy celebrities, and tell ourselves, “If I were that rich, I’d probably do that too.”

But remember it’s the little things, along with being able to recognize our blessings that count. We needn’t be financially wealthy to make a difference. Many of us have the chance to perform acts of kindness, we just need to recognize that opportunity.

There’s a feeling of humbleness, and peace that comes when we do something for no other reason than to bring joy, or a smile into someone’s life. It really does make a difference when we approach things knowing that we can help out, one person at a time.

A simple random act of kindness has the power to lift another persons spirit. I think you’ll also find, it lifts the spirit of the one who’s doing it too.

Regardless of if you believe in God, Karma, or the universe, I think when we share what we do have with those in need, we get rewarded in so many ways.

It’s been over thirty years since I’ve buried my child, so my pain isn’t as raw as hers is today. It’s been over 30 years since I lived on the streets of LA, so unlike Alex I have a roof over my head tonight.

I’m grateful today that I had enough to buy them their meals. Because I used to be a comedian, and I still love making people laugh, I enjoy pretending I’m mean and evil. However, the truth is that helping others, and practicing kindness arent’t just important to me, it’s my drug of choice. I love the feeling it gives me. That probably means I’m extremely selfish.

I’ll keep believing the universe will straighten things out for me. I’ll most definitely keep reminding myself just how important, and how many of those little blessings I have in my life.

Maybe if we were able to change out way of thinking, we could start a wave that spreads goodness instead of hate. Acts of kindness shouldn’t be so rare that they make the local news.

Imagine a world where we encouraged each other, celebrated our differences, and treated others the way we ourselves long to be treated, instead of how we’ve been treated by those who’ve hurt us. We should learn to use the rocks thrown at us, or the ones littering our path not as an excuse to quit trying, but as a foundation to build a staircase climbing upward.

I’ve realized as I grow into the winter of my life, looking back, so many of those mountains I climbed are now just grains of sand littering the path behind me. We have each survived everything thrown our way up until today. Like me, most of us never asked to be, nor did we seek out to become warriors. We simply chose to live.

I bet that if we were to add up every difficult time, every loss, every heart break we’ve survived we’d realize how strong we are. Maybe we’d begin to recognize, and perhaps appreciate just a little bit more, all the little blessings in our lives. I would hope we’d share those blessing with those in need.

Life and living sometimes hurts, be it psyical or emotional pain. That’s why it’s important to oftentimes step back, take a breath, and be still. It gives us time to regroup, and recuperate. I was clinically dead for 3 minutes. Dying is easy, it was waking up that was painful, but that’s a story for another time.

I honestly believe, that even in the most difficult of times, our burdens can be made lighter if through it all, we exercise compassion, empathy, and kindness to those around us. I know it’s kept me going these 56 years of mine.

So….TODAY’S WORDS OF WISDOM FROM MOMMA DAWN….each of us has the power to make a difference. My ex boyfriend Phillip used to tell me repeatedly that I “couldn’t save every puppy in the pound.” Maybe not personally, but if I help one person who goes on to help another person, and we each adopt a puppy…..

Dawn Goo