This morning I was leaving a yoga studio I work at in Morristown and decided to grab a latte. I parked over by the green picked it up and as I ran back to my car, I noticed a homeless man gazing over at me. As I sat in my car taking a moment to turn on music; I looked over and there he was still looking.
There was so much sadness and an emptiness that struck me. I started to feel like why do I have this coffee and he doesn’t. I’m sitting in a warm car with heat and he is not. I had a lot of thoughts flood my mind and I could’ve done what I normally do, rush to the next thing and let it go. But something about the way he was looking made me look at him again and really notice this moment. Is this homeless man in his own pain really that different than my own? Am I really that different? We all have our own pain to cope with, some moments harder than others and while it may not be sitting on a park bench, nonetheless; plain, old hard.
How many of us have experienced the feeling of a disconnect or a lacking of that connection to our own hearts or lives?
Maybe it looks like just living day to day without noticing or really being present.
All of a sudden this visceral feeling and understanding of how nobody is separate.
I sensed his own humanity and at the moment, his pain became mine.
I began to dig around for the few dollars I had on me. Before I knew it; I was out of my car and went over to the bench he was on and really looked at him and words stumbled out of my mouth urging him to please get his own warm coffee or something to that effect.
As I got back in my car, I really looked at him again and waved bye and then witnessed another person walk over and offer him some money too. A moment later; I glanced over again and he was gone. My hope is that he takes good care of himself.
This moment really felt like a true Christmas moment to me. Others helping others. May we all hit the pause button and really notice life around us and be grateful. If you feel moved, maybe offer a small kind act to someone you know well or don't know at all; in the spirit of whatever holiday you celebrate. It shifts everything.
Merry Christmas to all; the homeless and to those who feel home-less inside of themselves; or working through something hard. Merry Christmas to all. If you’re happy and all is great; spread joy in your own special way. ❤️ The world needs it.
Turn pain into hope. Experience the interconnectedness of all things.
Be the Christmas and holiday spirit.
Spreading my joy to you,
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