In my life I've always found that one of the magical keys to happiness is generosity, kindness, and helping others, so it's no surprise to you that one of my absolute favorite things to do is help people, which brings me to my point...
It will be my youngest daughter, Honey's, fifth birthday on the 13th (yes Friday the 13th, but it's lucky for us!) so today I decided it would be a good day to pop into the city and finish up buying her birthday presents. It was really cold today, about 2 degrees celsius, so I wanted to be super quick with my shopping and then have time to pop into see my dad at his house and help him have a shuffle around of his lounge furniture, before I had to get back home to pick my girls up from school.
As I started to head up to the shops I wanted to go to I noticed a homeless man stood in between two shops, to shelter from the icy wind. He was trying to sell "The Big Issue" magazines to make a little money. I smiled at him as I walked past and wondered to myself what I could do to help him, or at least make his day a little easier and a little brighter...
I kept thinking about what I could do for him while I was rushing in and out of shops picking out presents, when suddenly I noticed a whole shelf of thermal men's gloves! My memory immediately flashed back to the homeless mans hands and how he he them tucked inside his sleeves to hold the magazines up. I looked down at my own hands, inside my own warm gloves, and thought I would be freezing without these on today! So without a second thought I popped a pair of men's gloves into my basket, paid for my items and left the shop.
I started to head back down the road to where I had seen the man and was hoping and praying that he would still be there. And luckily... He was! I went over to him, apologized for disturbing him and told him that I had seen him on my way past and didn't want him to get cold hands so I had bought the gloves for him. His face immediately burst into a huge smile and he replied with, "Oh my gosh! That's wicked! Thank you so much. I love you!" I smiled, and told him he was very welcome and then walked down the road to see my Dad and help him.
When I got to my dad's I realized that my smile, as always after doing something nice for others, was still plastered on my face. I felt lighter, happier and at peace knowing that I had helped that man and showed him kindness, showed him that people do care.
Later on when I was collecting the girls from school, the icy wind had picked up even more and it had started to snow. I stood outside in the cold waiting for the school to open the doors and was so so glad that I had bought those gloves.
Wishing you love and happiness,
Annalise x