I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.- Maya Angelou
It was the dawn of a new day, and I had rose early to it like many others, but I Had work to do. Unlike most days however, I was not bringing a huge backpack, but a simple tiny bag to hold my wallet, my headphones, and an umbrella in case it rained. The path was already mapped out in my head, and as I stepped out to greet my good deeds, I prayed my phone would stay charged.
The first time I walked four miles ( a total of two and a half hours), I was swamped and didn’t know If I had the energy to weed, but gladly I snagged lunch at Larry’s Giant Subs, and in minutes I was ready to weed Mrs. Davenport’s garden.
She was an older woman, glasses as thick as a table, and useless even then. She could see but a pinprick compared to others, and I felt terrible, but quickly remembered it wasn’t me we were thinking of that day.
She showed me her garden and stated she has introduced invasive plants over the years without realizing it. When I inspected it I had realized quite yes, it was well overwhelmed and would be keeping my weekends very busy for a few months to come. Sure enough after each time I tugged, snapped and tied up a garbage bag, the ground cover was uprooted; hundreds of thick treelike plants were removed. Many other things such as common weeds, catbrier and wandering Jew was disposed of, leaving her with a tiled and healthy garden that could breathe once more.
She gave very little praise to my face, saw me little, and at one point I had thought maybe she did not want me there, but sure enough my roommate had told me how happy she felt. She suffered from depression as result to her blind condition, but my good deeds had filled her with silent happiness she held onto in darker moments.
I learned not only is it good to help others, but by doing so it means they can lean on you. We ourselves need to learn that we can lean on others too, and in that lesson I felt my body grow stronger, more sound, and soon enough I was stretching in the meditation room, practicing my spiritual craft again. A simple good deed allowed me to become sound, that I saw my educational background in a new light.
This light was that I could depend on my fellow friends and classmates, that we were all in on the struggle together. It spurred many great things to help others, and in the end it allowed us to be able to rest and fight the storm in a stronger more, sturdier stance.
It all started when one person challenged me to give, and in that I vowed silently to give, because after all a witch can do is make a difference one day at a time.
