Seek the Lesson

Weekend Prompt: “Seek the lesson.”

I am an emotional wreck right now.

On November 18th, 2020, I wrote this story called A Brief Encounter at Chick-fi-A. The story is about a guy named “John” who I met at the Chick-fil-A and I held on to some guilt for something I could have avoided. In the piece, I made a plea to “John” for the chance to make it right.

Fast forward to today, a little over 2 months after the first story. I wrote this story called Foot Soldier for Humanity, where after witnessing acts of kindness, I challenged myself to do more to help those in need because it’s in my heart to do so.

Well yall, this entire thing came together today. Sometimes the Universe communicates to us, but it’s up to us to pay attention and learn the lessons.

Today, I left my house knowing I would be giving away some extra fruit and nut snacks that I had, as well as some water, and a few dollars. Yep, that was gonna be my mission today, and afterwards, I would get something to eat because I was hungry, and then home.

After driving around for a bit, I found some guys who were experiencing homelessness, and I gave them everything that I intended. Yes, I was grateful for the encounter, and they were very thankful for the items they received.

After I drove off, my mission was to get something to eat. So, like normal, I couldn’t figure out what I wanted. I began going through my head of the list of possible places and finally decided to go to a restaurant that was 15 minutes away from where I was, and it was 30 minutes away from home.

I am on my way listening to whatever was playing from my phone (which I did not use to text or search, while I was in my car) through the Bluetooth. I listened to Kiss (Prince), Lady in My Life (Michael Jackson), Sound of Silence (Disturbed), just to name a few.

The restaurant that I went to share the same shopping center as the Chick-fil-A from my first story. I happened to look over and there was someone sitting in the spot where I met “John” that night. So after I got my food, I drove over to the Chick-fil-A to find this person.

Something inside felt right about this. You see, in my first story, I made “John” a promise. I promised to give him my time because I failed to do that when we first met. If this was “John”, then I am in the right place.

Well anyway, by the time I drove over, the person was gone. So, I drove around and spotted him at the entrance of Chick-fil-A. By the time I drove around again, he was gone. What is going on, I thought?

I decided to leave but ended up spotting him walking back towards the original spot. He was walking up from a reservoir or some kind of ditch with standing water. In that moment I knew it was “John” and I felt peace.

I stopped my car and asked him if he wanted some food. He replied yes. I asked him what he wanted, and he said whatever I could get him, he would appreciate. I got in the Chick-fil-A drive thru line as “John” patiently waited.

After leaving the drive thru, I drove up to him and noticed that he had lost a few pounds, but his face was the face of “John”, the face I remembered. I handed him the food, a full meal this time, and he was very grateful.

I proceeded to tell John that I met him before. I even explained that I have always kept him in my heart, and even wrote about him. He didn’t remember our encounter, but he confirmed that our meeting then and now, happened for a reason.

I asked him his name and he said Benjamin. Benjamin and I chatted for a while. Mostly about God and how blessed he was. He said that he had asked for a blessing today and God sent him an angel. At one point, he asked me to pull down my mask so that he could see my smile. I obliged, and he said my smile was like seeing the sunset. We chatted and it was just a pleasant encounter and I did not rush off. I gave Benjamin my time.

I am not a religious person, but I do believe that we are meant to be here in this time and space to specifically have this human experience. And it doesn’t matter what you believe in, all that matters is what is in your heart. As long as you are whole heartedly committed to that, then that is your path in life. I am not here to convince you otherwise.

My apologies if this is a bit long, but I need to write this.

Benjamin and I chatted for a good 15 minutes, my food got cold, but I didn’t care. All Benjamin needed was someone to talk to. That’s all he wanted the first time we met. He even said it that most people won’t talk to him because they don’t like hearing about God. He again got emotional and so did I.

To see someone experiencing homelessness and still believes in his heart that he will be ok is to be admired. His faith is stronger than mine.

After I left Benjamin, I was on my way and spotted the sunset. It was amazing and I swear I broke down in my car because it brought me back to Benjamin’s comment. I was extremely overwhelmed with emotions.

This was the sunset today.

Driving home gave me some space to reflect. I felt at peace and my heart filled with joy. I kept my promise to “John”/Benjamin, and everything just fell into place. I thought all was well.

About 15 minutes into the drive, I was thinking about how to tell this story, and then suddenly, 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘊.’s weekend prompt popped into my thoughts “seek the lesson”. When I tell you I lost it, I cried, and laughed, and cried some more. It wasn’t pretty.

So, what’s the lesson here? I have always had this urge to want to help people and I think God/Universe, whoever, has been sending me signs that I have been ignoring.

See, I would like to start a charity, it’s something that is on my list of goals, and I think the Universe is telling me it’s time and has been screaming it to me, LOUDLY. I have been ignoring it because of a full-time job and fear of not knowing how to execute it.

Today, with everything falling into place the way they did, and with the free time that I have, I will no longer ignore these signs. Today, I heard them loud and clear, and it’s time to take action.

Sometimes life places us in situations for us to learn from them. Whether it’s an experience with a toxic person, whether it’s an abusive situation, whether it’s losing a job, whether it’s experiencing homelessness, etc. These experiences are there to teach us lessons and we just need to open our eyes and pay attention.

After writing about my own guilt when it came to those experiencing homelessness, after reading Dr. Preeti Singh’s story about feeding a little girl, after writing about Lisa from Drexell and Honeybees, and after the day I had interacting with the men experiencing homelessness, then full circle back to “John”/Benjamin, and then witnessing the sunset, how could I go on ignoring these clear signs.

So, I hear you Universe…I saw the signs, I received the lesson, and I know what I need to do: I choose to have an open heart, I choose to release all judgement, I choose to give money freely without guilt, I choose to give my time, and most importantly, I choose to become a foot soldier for humanity.

𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘊. I don’t think I need a therapist or maybe I do? I have cried so much over the last few weeks; I am literally an emotional wreck. Thank you for the weekend prompt.

So grateful for you all reading and providing your feedback. I am a work in progress and you guys have helped me so much on this journey. I will forever be grateful.