Haha Moment

image from pingallery.deviantart.com

"You've turned dark.", my little brother told me.

"I beg to disagree.", I countered.  "A little gray maybe but not utterly dark".

"I like reading about your funny stories like when the angry bird followed you to India.", he said.

"I can't help it, I'm in that space of late."

"You see, when one travels the spiritual path, it's not always bright and sunny.  It is inevitable that one's monsters will come out." 

"More often than not, it takes time to deal with one's beasts.", I explained.

After several days,  I thought about my critique's opinion.  I reconsidered it.  I do miss my light side.  So today, I thought of sharing with you an inspiring incident I encountered this week.


The Old Woman and her Old Bike Seat

I have a 60 year old friend who loves to tell me how her day transpired.  Like most senior citizens though, she often forgets that she has told me a particular story for the nth time.  I often remind her when I have heard what she's telling me about and most of the time she says, "Just listen to me.  Why are you young people so disrespectful?!"

One day she excitedly told me, "You couldn't guess what happened to me today."

"I went to have the seat of my bike changed.  A customer of the shop offered to buy my old seat for P20 ($ 0.43) but I don't feel like parting with the seat for such a small amount.  So, I opted to bring it home with me.  When I arrived at the gate, it was also time for the students to go home from school." (She lives near a public elementary school.)  

My attention was caught by an old man fetching his grandchild.  I noticed that his bike seat is made up of old clothes and rags sewn together.  I approached him and offered my old seat.

He was hesitant to receive it saying, "I might have to pay for it."

I told him, "Don't think about it. I just got a new bike seat."

"You know, his face beamed when I handed him the seat.  The happiness in that man's face could not be compared to the P20($ 0.43) I could have gotten if I sold the seat.", she joyfully recalled.

I listened attentively and did not interrupt her at any point of her story.

"I did tell you the story before, didn't I?", she said.

I simply nodded and flashed a knowing smile.  I figured, why not listen to her story again?  So, what if I lost 5 minutes of my time when in turn I gave 5 minutes of happiness to an old friend. 

video from easymeditation