SELFLESSNESS...AND SELF-ABSORBED

Selflessness. Selflessness does not come naturally to me...to few of us, truth be told. This past couple weeks, we've all been reminded of Nelson Mandela's selfless life which brought me to Martin Luther King, Jr., and then Gandhi...it's the measure of my ego that I compare myself to them! Come up short, of course, but staying there is just an excuse to not even try to be a tish more caring and considerate. To everyone. Period.

I had an experience of another's selflessness toward me just yesterday. To my reasoning mind, it is such a little thing that it's taken me nearly 24 hours to process the layers of it...and there may be even more that I haven't gotten to yet.

I came in from walking Ruckus, and we followed a man onto our elevator here. I asked him to push 5 for my floor, and he did. As Ruckus and I got off at 5, I glanced over my shoulder, and the man was pushing G...he was going to the Garage! When I asked him to push 5, he did not demur, did not turn a hair...simply said, "Sure," and smiled. As the elevator doors were closing, I called back what I had just realized and apologized, but I can't be sure he heard me.

To me, his action is pure selflessness. Especially with our elevators. I often think they have a mind of their own, and they sit and ponder whether they're even going to answer a call. As often as not, I get on one and it'll go to whatever floor it chooses...I'm just grateful the things don't go from side to side, or I'd never get where I want to go.

Oops...clearly the elevators and I have issues...uh-oh, I have issues with our dim-dam elevators.

Back to the man's selflessness (back to me trying to be spiritual). I did feel badly that I hadn't been able to let him know how impressed, how touched, I was by his unselfish action. In particular that he said not one word, not one eyeroll did he give, nothing to indicate that he was going out of his way for a total stranger. And even more particularly with our elevators...but I've been there, haven't I?

It finally occurred to me that my words would have been nice, but they were not really necessary. His reward is in his gift. Whether he realizes it or not, his own will come to him.

Our lives are made better not by what we get but what we give.

Thank you.

ABTW, we're getting new elevators next year...praise God!