“Who the fuck cares!! “No one does!” She said as she screamed at the top of her lungs. Her body bounced in an intoxicated manner through the downtown core.
It ‘s 10 past midnight, and I and a friend stand and watch as the distraught woman walks towards us.
I had just finished a 14-hour work day of selling jewelry, standing, and talking to people. My body ached strapped with a backpack that weighed over 75 pounds consisting of my entire jewelry display. I had hit a fork in the road.
To my left, the future looked comfortable.
Just a minute walk away and I would find a bus that would lead me to a nice warm bed where I could rest from the long day's work.
To the right was a deranged woman that was screaming profanities at me.
I was exhausted, tired, and hungry. Every part of my body wanted to turn to my left and forget about the woman that approached me. To cast her aside as another drunk and carry on with my life. But there was something inside me, a whisper, that gave my spirit the strength to embrace my internal resistance.
With a breath, I turned to her.
“What’s wrong?” I questioned.
She shook her head and let out another half-made sentence that I had a hard time comprehending. “It’s just the way it is! It’s always going to be like this”
I listened on intently.
She proceeded to tell me of her pains, her hurts, her woes.
She told me her story.
My friend at the moment chimed in and tried to give the hard-struck woman some caring advice.
I can’t quite remember what she said, but it went along the lines like.
“Oh it’s ok, you don't need to give that energy”
I turned to my friend and gave her sharp and almost violent stair. She understood and stopped talking immediately.
I turned back to the woman and held her hand, without a word, my eyes met hers once more.
She cried, sobbed, and screamed.
I listened.
That’s all she really needed.
No words from this world could soothe her broken soul.
She needed much more.
Only the silent space of compassion could hold her pain.
And it did.
Her cries silenced and her once hardened face was broken open, reviling an angelic like quality.
A soft smile perched from her lips and our eyes danced in unison.
“Thank you.” she said softly.
My eyes continued to hold her. I had nothing to say. Instead, we continued to stand there in silence, in love, as two human beings from very different worlds but sharing the same universal story. We all hurt, we all suffer. The gift of compassion brings us together. This is what compassion means. To share in one’s suffering.
When I turned to meet her, I was physically hurting. I was tired, overworked, and hungry. But the spirit within that gave me the strength to put my small wants and comforts to the side is the purpose for me writing this piece.
You see, there was a voice within that said:
“For the people!”
It was a phrase I encoded in my psyche.
A reminder that gave me strength to turn towards that woman when many parts of me wanted to leave.
This reminder continues to shape the way I act in the world. It helps me plan my week, meet challenges with courage, and face opposition with a
caring heart.
It is my Why.
It is a force so much bigger than me that helps lead my way.
This is why I write.
What’s your WHY?
What do believe?
What gives you strength?
I feel that given our current times, politics in the United States. The wars around the globe, climate change, and our planet's natural resources diminishing at accelerating rates, it is imperative that we all get in with our WHY.
That we all in touch with that force that carries us through those challenging times.
This planet and our people need us more than ever to stand up and live from our hearts.
From personal experience, living from the heart has not always been easy. My heart is sometimes demanding, pulling me to stretch, grow and love through the discomfort.
But having my why at the forefront of my mind has given me that needed strength to lean in into discomfort with compassion and kindness.
So I encourage you if you feel inspired, that after reading this, you pause to take 5 minutes and consider to yourself,
What is the most important thing to you?
What do you believe about the world?
What do you care most about?
A good way to get in touch with this part within is by writing down 3-5 people that you admire.
What are the qualities they embody that make your heart sing?
What about these people’s lives speak to your soul?
Whatever they are, they are good indications of what your WHY is.
When you find it, I invite you to use it as a compass to lead you through this coming week. I invite you to allow it to shape the way you interact with the people you meet, and the way you respond to the challenges that come your way.
It will give you strength.
If you feel called, please share your why in the comments below? Your thoughts, Your heart.
What you have to say and believe in is valuable.
It will give others strength, ideas, and insights.
So if you feel called, Please share.
For those of you in Ottawa, I would be honored if you came to a workshop this February 4th Saturday to develop and share your WHY with a group
of visionaries living from a place of heart and purpose.
I believe that if we all live from our Whys, we will not only transform those around as, but we will collectively shape and transform our planet in a powerful and positive way.
From my heart to yours, I pray we continue to live from a place of spirit, heart, and love.
We Love and Gratitude,
Adam