I just received this email from an audience member:
I have to share a neat “Penny” story with you (see the blog entry on “The Power of Five Pennies.”) . The other night I had taken down a bunch of helium balloons after our Women’s Cancer Awareness Day at the Co-op, and I had missed one. I took it down, and just as I was going into the hall to see if any children were left, the mall janitor was walking by. I smiled and gave him the balloon. He told me thank you and that he was going to tie it to his “chariot.” He then walked over and tied it to the handle of his cleaning cart. We both laughed, and I told him what a joyful attitude he had.
As I was going back to my office, I remembered I had a quote on my wall from Martin Luther King that said we should do our jobs with the same passion as Beethoven conducted a symphony or as Micheangelo painted. I photocopied the the quote and took it to him as he was cleaning the cafeteria. He smiled and thanked me, and I again went back to my office.
A few minutes later he came rushing in and thanked me again, now that he had read the quote. He asked me to sign it for him as he thought it was such a lovely gift he was going to frame it. We spent the next few minutes talking and getting to know each other. He had worked for the company ten years, one year less than me, yet we had never visited.
Isn’t it sad that we get so busy and wrapped up in our own lives, we miss the beauty in the people around us! Now each time I see Rueben we smile and chat a little, and I get an especially big smile when I see him go by, pushing his “chariot!” Thank you for helping us remember to appreciate others.
Love, Tammy
Hear is the quotation Tammy gave Reuben:
“If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
How precious that Tammy began to appreciate someone who had been around every day yet they had never connected on a human level. Now they have a special relationship of caring because she noticed and thanked Reuben. Whom in your daily life do you need to appreciate and thank?
To learn more about Barbara and to hear more inspiring stories and ideas, go to www.barbaraglanz.com/articles
