Wear Your Kindness on the Outside

You never know when you might come across someone who is right in the perfect place to receive the blessing of your kindness. I stopped by the gas station down the street from my house last week to fill up. I went to this particular gas station because I wanted to check in on a guy I met there the last time I got gas.

Not this most recent time, but the previous time, I pulled in and rolled down my window to discover this sweet faced scruffy haired man with what looked like a bite right through his bottom lip. Being the curious sort that I am, I asked him, "Oh Man!!! What happened to your lip?" and without a second thought he told me about his seizure disorder.

He recently had a grand mal seizure and bit down on his bottom lip, almost all the way through. I cringed a bit and said, "Oh geez! I am so sorry. That looks really painful. I have a seizure disorder too and I have never had that happen". He was very sweet and open about his condition as was I and I told him I sincerely hoped he found the right combination of meds to get control. He thanked me and I went on my way.

I have thought about him often ever since. When I pass the gas station I look for him because when someone has a seizure disorder and their condition isn't under control you just never know what might happen. Nobody is promised tomorrow and a seizure disorder kinda increases your odds, ya know?

When I realized I needed gas I knew exactly where I was going. My hope was that he would be working that day and as luck would have it, he was there. I pulled up to the pump, rolled down my window, turned the radio down and made my request for a fill up. He said, "Coming right up".

Once he started pumping the gas he turned away from the car and I checked to insure I was the only car there and then poked my head out the window. I said, " I think of you every time I drive by here" with a friendly smile. He spun around and tilted his head in a inquisitive manner and gestured towards himself as he clarified, "You mean the station or me specifically?" I let him know it was him specifically and reminded him about our conversation.

He updated me on his seizure activity and said, "Every day I wake up, I just keep coming to work and try to focus on the good in my life". I took that as the perfect opportunity to let him know about this blog. I gave him one of my cards and explained what Apozitude was about and he shared some other challenges with me that I will respectfully keep to myself. I told him to keep his chin up, not in those exact words, but to remember that more people than he realizes are pulling for him. He told me he has heard some pretty amazing things and that the big guy upstairs was good to him.

I hope he looks up this blog and sees that he has touched someones life.