A Split Second of Being Grateful

It was like any other ordinary day. Packed with cars, everybody is busy hustling back home, with a lot in mind.
"What am I going to cook today?"
"Did Mr A noticed my brand new outfit for today?"
"Chelsea vs Man U tonight. Better hurry up get some dinner, then off to bed early before the game"
"I think I need a new laptop"

and on and on and on...

Different thoughts for different souls.

In the bustling city like Kuala Lumpur, cars are jamming up main streets at 6.05 pm, drivers with minimal patience facing the odds that the traffic will not move until you've spent half an hour singing to songs on the radio. I was one of the drivers. It was a Friday. I still had a long way to, simply because I was heading back to my home town that evening. 

When you live in a metropolitan city, you catch up on a few skills:-

1. The ability to use your time wisely during traffic jam to make up (in the morning), stalking your friends on Facebook, or even brushing up on your vocals.

2. Your driving skills somehow get a little better since you always facing heavy traffic. My lane changing skills have gotten better ever since I drive in KL. 

3. You learn to ignore. And you learn to just shut yourself off to everyone around you.

And I am sure a few other skills you can pick up here and there, sometimes without realising that you do so.

So, on that very evening, when I was stalking on friends' activities through Facebook, something, or rather someone caught my attention. 

He was an Indian man, very skinny, with very shaggy dirty clothes. At first glimpse I could tell he might not have a proper bath for quite sometime. He was haggard,with messy beard and red eyes. My take, he was probably drunk. He was limping, and his walking orientation wasn't that stable. And he was walking with bare feet, crossing the road right in front of my car.

No, he did not crash on my window. Nor did he tapped on it asking for money or whatever. He just crossed the road into some back alley. Then I wonder...

Where was he heading? He was old. Was he homeless?

I ponder on him for quite some time. What if I was him? What if I had to walk barefooted on tar road? Would my feet hurt? I am so accustomed to comfort living, I don't think I can survive without taking a bath in one day. 

I remembered having the same thought when I was travelling to Jakarta two years back. Our van was stopping in a worse traffic jam, and there was a young kid tapping on our window asking for money. Barefooted. Dirty fingers. We ignored her, as advised by our tour guide. Then a few moments later, came a lady with her little baby in her arms tapping on our window. Again she was ignored. 

Poor creatures. They are not as lucky. That barefooted may-be-homeless old man, the young kid, and that lady with a baby... for all I know, they may be doing the same routine as these words are being typed. For those few moments, I cherished my life. I was grateful for my life. I never had it hard. Sure my family wasn't rich, but I had a comfortable life. I don't need to collect alms to survive. In fact, I was too comfortable that I take it lightly and most of the time, forgetting that I am lucky.

Those are not the only ones. I've seen lots of kids on the streets selling books, looking all pale and tired. Why? Where are their parents? Is it possible they are kidnapped? They are supposed to be at home, watching TV, picking on their little siblings, not under the hot sun approaching people to buy whatever it is they are selling. 

I've read once that we should not give them any money, in order not to support the syndicate using these kids. True at some point. But who knows what happen if they don't meet their quota. We are stuck in between. 

However, everything is fated. This is their mighty tests. Each of us is being tested differently. Wealth, comfort, insufficient, lack, sickness, health...all are tests. Deep down, I wish...

I wish...
There is love and no hate, 
No war but peace, 
Poor is helped by the rich, 
Definitely enough with exploits.

I hope that one fine day we'll find a way to help the poor and needy, 
Maybe one fine day the government will start putting all those bad men in jail,

I hope children will be children, no more on the streets earning money.
I hope homeless folks will be given a second chance, 
and I hope they'll make a change with their lives.

I realise that hoping alone will not change anything. A thought cannot feed these needies. Blogging will not help them get a job or a home. But looking at them, reminds me how fortunate I am. I am reminded to be grateful for all that I have. I may not be able to change the world with my written words, but I hope it helps some one else to realise how lucky he/she is for being able to even go online and read this. Small acts do have ripple effects. Even the smallest deed might lead to something huge. Who knows? 
So, start changing the world... by changing us. Give, and you may get something more valuable in return. Peace of mind, purity in the heart and unexpected love. 

:)