Hello All!

I just wanted to take a moment to share a story with you guys. Today’s Monday Motivation on our Instagram is:

and I felt that I should share a recent experience that I had.

Recently I took my mother and sister shopping, while at the store I was getting a little irritated with a woman who seemed to be really watching my mother (to the point of downright staring at times). Now, my mother has cerebral palsy and my sister has Down syndrome; I tend to be a little protective of the two of them so admittedly I was thinking pretty negatively about this woman.

When we left the store my sister and I were working on filling up the car with all the groceries we’d purchased when I noticed this same woman helping someone else (someone with a walker) load up their own groceries. As I stood there working on our cart I overheard her telling this woman that she noticed her and my mother in the store and she was watching the two of them to make sure they had the help they needed.

She explained that her brother has MS and just that morning had been rushed to the hospital, she said he wasn’t doing well and she was struggling with it. She went on to explain that she spends most of her time cooking and caring for him not because he can’t do things on his own but because she loves him so much and just wants him to never have to struggle more than he already does. When he was taken to the hospital she offered to come sit with him but he’d told her that with all the help she’s given him he knows she hasn’t had time to do what she needed to do. So instead of coming to sit with him he wanted her to “take the day off” and take care of herself.

So while doing her grocery shopping she saw my mother and this woman and wanted to be sure that they were both cared for; she noticed this woman was completely alone and felt she needed to do something to help. Eventually my mom walked over and these 3 women started talking and sharing stories. I felt pretty bad for immediately assuming the worst in this woman and made sure to thank her for her kindness and tell her that I felt she was an amazingly kind person.

I left there feeling humbled. So this quote reminds me of situations like that. I think we all have those moments where we assume the worst in someone and get angry or irritated right away. Another example I thought of that we all can probably relate to, is when someone pulls out in front of us while driving. They cut us off and we’re angry that they couldn’t wait “5 more seconds!” or that they “clearly weren’t paying attention!”. But sometimes I try to think to myself “maybe they couldn’t see”. Because where we live there are plenty of stop signs that are on an angled road and even if you’re stopped you have inch forward ever so slowly because it’s a complete blind spot.
So, let’s set a goal for this week to erase our negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones. It’s tough but it will make our week seem so much less stressful!

If you’d like to see more Monday motivations check us out on Instagram and Facebook.

Share with us how you do!