WORDS OF WISDOM: What We Are Here For

By Neal Lemery

I’ve lately been wondering what we are doing here. Am I just a guy running errands, paying the bills, slogging through life as I watch the calendar flip from one month to another? Perhaps it is the seemingly endless gray days and persistent rain that has put me in a rather foul and blah mood.
Then, I notice the spring birds arriving, eagerly checking out nesting sites, and the spring flowers blooming, new buds on trees and shrubs, and the growing hours of daylight, some spectacular sunrises and sunsets, and the brightness of the full moon over the water.
I also notice that I can be an instrument of kindness and service. Yesterday’s trip to the grocery store found me in an aisle where an elderly man was struggling to get a jug of iced tea out of the refrigerated case. He was in an electric cart, his cane perched tenuously on the basket, his eyes close to tears.
As a not-so-spring chicken myself, who also needs a cane on occasion, I responded to his pleas, helping him with his selection. We had a long discussion about what kind of tea to buy, and then a longer discussion about his medical condition, the aches and pains in his legs, and his frustration with a medical system that seemed to be indifferent and uninformed. We shared our respective knowledge about arthritic legs and knees, remedies, medications, and the like, finding common ground and collegiality.
I could sense he was lonely, that few people bothered to converse with him about his life, his needs, and the aches and pains of an elderly man.
Part of me felt rushed, wanting to finish my own shopping, to get on with my life and not be bothered by another’s litany of pain and frustration. And part of me paused, realizing I had plenty of time and perhaps this conversation, this time spent with someone lonely and hurting, was an important part of my day, one of the tasks I was meant to accomplish.

Being nice to someone else needs to be one of the items on my grocery list, an everyday task, and obligation. And, yes, it should be an essential part of all of our lives.
We parted company, after firing each other up about being the grumpy, insistent patient in need of being listened to in the doctor’s office, in finding some remedies for our aches and pains, and for some realistic help and treatment for what ails both of us. He gave me a firm handshake and wished me well, and I did the same with him. His new smile filled me with joy.
We agreed that we both felt better if we felt positive and motivated to make the best of the day, every day. And, to share those good intentions and good works with others.
The rest of my shopping trip and my errand running was done on a higher note, my spirit filled with intentions to do good, to make a difference in the lives of others, to be productive and useful, not only to others, but to my own needs to be a productive human being, a good citizen.
Later, I attended a meeting of passionate, energetic souls who are organizing a great community event that will benefit teenagers, and build some cultural activities in our community. Everyone was cheerful, prepared, and had energetically been working on their respective tasks and obligations. We were all volunteers, not looking for any personal rewards, except for the satisfaction of knowing we were doing good things, that we were collectively accomplishing a lot, and contributing to the good of the community.
We sailed through our agenda, checking off our to do lists, and adding new and worthwhile tasks, simply being happy and proud of who we are, and what we are doing together.
I soaked up that good will, that sense of community purpose, that aura of doing something worthwhile simply because it was worthwhile. Personal gain and profit was not in the room, but the idea of collective service and civic advancement was.
I drove home, with my heart filled with good intentions, and a sense that so much of our lives have great possibilities of accomplishing so many good things.