Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Hope And Joy In A Wal-Mart Car Park


--by widow55, posted Jan 10, 2012

Wal-Mart parking lots can be a very busy place with cars and vans backing out while other vehicles wait impatiently to get the next spot. It can get a little congested at times and I have certainly seen many hurried people lacking in patience. I have ocassionaly been that hurried person.

The other night when I left Wal-Mart I was in a lot of pain from some chronic health issues and I just wanted to wave a magic wand on be sitting on my couch with the groceries all put away. I would love to have a magic wand like that! 
 
I started to get irritated when a woman and her child stopped dead in the middle of the parking lot to chat and hug with a friend while I was trying to back out! They seemed oblivious to my need to get moving.                                
 
Then I had one of those "light bulb" moments. When our eyes finally met, instead of giving them the why don't you move look, I gave them a huge smile.  It was then that they realized they could move to the side and chat (they appeared to have been truly lost in the moment up to that point). I was able to back out but still could not move forward because of other vehicles. I took the opportunity to enjoy their interactions until I could move. There were more hugs and then a goodbye. 
 
As I drove away, tears fell softly on my cheeks.  
 
I never got to hug my husband before he died. But, this was not a "pity me" cry. It was an awakening of my spirit to the joy and hope that still exists. 
 
It is always there. We just have to be intentional in creating it or looking for it.
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Readers Comments

Judith Ann wrote: A smile - is a frown turned upside down - and a smile means oh so much - thank you for realizing this - your generosity to those people woke them up, and will probably make them more sensitive in the future! God be with you!
BeansD wrote: Hope you feel better soon. I am going to take a leaf of your page and smile the next time someone irritates my skin. Thanks for sharing. Your post is surely an eye-opener for me. I am irritated easily :)
jennay34 wrote: That was so nice of you to give a smile when you could have easily gave a dirty look. I know how you feel about chronic pain as i have multiple sclerosis, so i know how hard it can be to turn on the happy face when you feel so bad. But we have to remember that no one knows that we are ill. So we should always try and be nice and have a positive outlook. And i pray you feel better!
Debra wrote: Thanks for sharing this moment of your life. What a difference just a little bit of patience can make. Beautiful!
bilkis yusuf wrote: God bless you, what a wondeful way to control your feelings, may you always have a happy life
crosby2126 wrote: Thanks for your post. You helped me to realize to take a breath,live in the moment and see what happens. I am sorry that you feel you didn't get that last hug in. But you did. And you continue to do so every time you bless someone else. God bless.
HappyDae wrote: I so understand being in chronic pain. Probably, just finally getting to sit in your car was a goal and some relief. I am so sorry that you have this "mountain" i know it can be a very tall one. Just look at how you handled it though. Your smile was straight from the heart. Dear one, i am so sorry for the loss of your husband and your not being able to say that final goodbye. I know how deeply that must hurt. Something tells me he saw you offer kindness with a smile because you recognized the significance of what was actually happening at that very moment. God bless you and your ability to trump pain with kindness. Love and peace, happydae
positivepolly wrote: Thank you for sharing your moment of quiet joy in your car at wal-mart. I will carry that image for a long time.

genevieve wrote: Physical pain is a robber of joy, it can't be shared. When you were in parking lot you basically turned the other cheek, and she became aware of you, then realized i'm blocking traffic, let me not ruin the moment and just move over. She was not thinking of you, it's a daily thing to get hemmed in, we sometimes do it too and don't realize the other person may be having some terrible problems.
Sequoia wrote: This is very sweet and full of learned wisdom from the heart. Thank you!

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