Fwd: National Youth Day - Invitaion

National Youth Day Invitation  - Swami Vivekananda Jayanti Celebrations

Ravi Sharma

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DON'T WE ALL

DON'T WE ALL

I was parked in front of the mall wiping off my car. I had just come 
from the car wash and was waiting for my wife to get out of work. 
Coming my way from across the parking lot was what society would 
consider a bum. 
From the looks of him, he had no car, no home, no clean clothes, and no 
money. There are times when you feel generous but there are other times 
that you just don't want to be bothered. This was one of those "don't 
want to be bothered times." 
"I hope he doesn't ask me for any money," I thought. 
He didn't. 
He came and sat on the curb in front of the bus stop but he didn't look 
like he could have enough money to even ride the bus. 
After a few minutes he spoke. 
"That's a very pretty car," he said. 
He was ragged but he had an air of dignity around him. His scraggly 
blond beard keep more than his face warm. 
I said, "thanks," and continued wiping off my car.

He sat there quietly as I worked. The expected plea for money never 
came. 
As the silence between us widened something inside said, "ask him if 
he needs any help." I was sure that he would say "yes" but I held true 
to the inner voice. 
"Do you need any help?" I asked. 
He answered in three simple but profound words that I shall never forget. 
We often look for wisdom in great men and women. We expect it from 
those of higher learning and accomplishments.

 I expected nothing but an 
outstretched grimy hand. He spoke the three words that shook me. 
"Don't we all?" he said.

I was feeling high and mighty, successful and important, above a bum 
in the street, until those three words hit me like a twelve gauge 
shotgun. 
Don't we all? 
I needed help. Maybe not for bus fare or a place to sleep, but I 
needed help. I reached in my wallet and gave him not only enough for bus 
fare, but enough to get a warm meal and shelter for the day. Those 
three little words still ring true. No matter how much you have, no matter 
how much you have accomplished, you need help too. No matter how little you 
have, no matter how loaded you are with problems, even without money or 
a place to sleep, you can give help.

Even if it's just a compliment, you can give that. 
You never know when you may see someone that appears to have it all. 
They are waiting on you to give them what they don't have. A different 
perspective on life, a glimpse at something beautiful, a respite from 
daily chaos, that only you through a torn world can see. 
Maybe the man was just a homeless stranger wandering the streets. Maybe 
he was more than that.

Maybe he was sent by a power that is great and 
wise, to minister to a soul too comfortable in themselves.