In Helping Others - Day 206 - (Semi) daily Haiku - on helping others, accepting help graciously, and the eternal value of kindness

in #payitforward5 years ago (edited)

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In helping others
we always, ultimately,
are helping ourselves.

So the developers (and I use the term loosely) of HF 20 failed to account for how their largely untested changes were going to affect rank and file Steemians, with the unfortunate result that those in failing economies, such as Venezuela and Nigeria, who are relying on their little bit of income from Steemit to feed their families, saw that income abruptly shut down, but they - and we - are just expected to be okay with effectively being shut out of our own accounts through the failure of the HF20 team to adequately test it before deploying. Hmmmmmmm.

I don't think they would be nearly so cavalier about it if their families' lives depended upon the outcome.

Or perhaps that is wishful thinking on my part.

In any case, from an investment perspective, I think all those big investors that @ned has been courting are going to think long and hard following this fork up.

Or find another project with a better track record. And a far better development team.

But life goes on, despite the stress of the past week causing rifts between former friends and allies, which is sad to see, but unfortunately not entirely surprising.

It would be lovely if we could simply, respectfully, agree to disagree. Can't we all just get along?

In the meantime, those of us who believe in paying it forward will continue to help others when the opportunity arises, as it did for me a couple of days ago, when I stopped to refuel before going home for the day.

As I had eaten lunch about five hours earlier, I was hungry but not famished, so I decided to get a couple "tornadoes," which are pseudo tacquito-like rolls with various fillings, and as Marek had told me about a really good Mexican restaurant he had visited the night before, a couple Southwest-style tornadoes, though far from the highest quality food on the planet, were sounding pretty good.

As I walked into the gas station, a man was sitting just outside and asked me for a cigarette, to which I replied that I was sorry, but I don't smoke. But something about him struck me. The look on his face was as though he had just lost his last friend in the world.

I went and got my tornadoes, which are kept on the same sort of rolling cooker as hot dogs and sausages, and sure enough, right next to the tornadoes I wanted there were two all-beef hot dogs ready to go.

Also not the finest food on the planet, but at roughly 430 calories each, that was nearly half of what an average person requires on a daily basis, they come with a healthy dose of protein, and they were hot. Sometimes not-the-best-food beats no food at all.

So I put the two hot dogs in a basket, put them on top of my tornadoes in a second basket, paid for the lot and went back outside.

The man was still in the same spot, but leaned over, with his head in his hands. When I told him,"Excuse me Sir, these are for you," he looked up, surprised, said a quiet "Thank you, Ma'am" as he took them, and I went on my way.

There is zero doubt in my mind that I did the right thing.

I don't know the man's story, nor do I need to. He was a fellow human being who was clearly hurting, and I made a small gesture of kindness to let him know that he had been seen. A small gesture, yes, but one I knew instantly was appreciated. And that's all the payback I could have asked.

I've said before that, when it comes to giving to panhandlers, or people on the street, I go by the vibes, which was true in this case. The look on his face when I said no, I don't smoke, and therefore had no cigarette to give him, seemed a crushing blow, as though the weight of the world fell upon him in that moment. That was not acting.

It always occurs to me to picture someone I love, a friend or family member, in similar circumstances, because truly, there but for the grace of God go I.

We are all family, whether or not we choose to acknowledge the fact, and certainly whether or not we act like it; and I hope and pray that, if someone close to me found themselves in a similar circumstance, someone would treat them with similar kindness and courtesy.

We are all One. Whatever we do for or to another, for good or ill, we are doing to or for ourselves, quite literally.

Let us all be humane, as well as human.

This post, and all those from now until the end of 2018, I am dedicating to the work of #tarc and #yah, aka @rhondak's nonprofit dog rescue and @sircork's charity @youarehope.

Half the liquid proceeds earned from my posts will be evenly split between the two organizations.

The photo above was taken by me, using my Samsung Note 8 (or LG G4, not sure which) smartphone, of the instant after full totality during the eclipse of 21 August 2017. I used a pair of the eclipse glasses in front of the lens.

#tribegloballove #tarc #yah #ecotrain #thewritersblock #smg #ghsc #thirtydayhaikuchallenge #teamgood #steemsugars #teamgirlpowa #womenofsteemit #steemusa #qurator #steemitbasicincome #bethechange #chooselove #photography #neighbors #beauty #love #animals #dogs #rescue #adoption #spayandneuter #homesteading #permaculture #naturalhealing #dogrescue #dogsofsteemit #grace #poetry #philosophy #beablessing #naturalremedy #gratitude #abundance #give #family #peace #tranquility #giving #donating #philanthropy #kindness #holistic #holisticvet #naturaltreatments #herbalism #naturalherbs #herbalmedicine #juliettedibairicli-levy #julietteoftheherbs #cat #kitten #petphotography #cats #animals

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That's really nice and right gesture @crescendoofpeace 👐 I appreciate you for being a human with such a kindheart. I think the man was to shy to beg for food but it's okay for a cigarette, though it won't makes him full, we didn't know how hard he tried not to ask for other helps. People like you who light this darkest world with many people only cares for their own healthy foods and vacation, Thank you for sharing this wonderful story and I hope that you'd make more $ through steemit.

Thanks so much for your lovely comment, and for you time in reading my post.

I've found that these situations always end up making me feel blessed, both to have had the opportunity to be of service when needed, and to have had the wherewithal to do so.

Everything for a reason. ;-)

Posted using Partiko Android

That is really so nice of you to reach out like that i see so much of it around the world and i always wonder to myself there is no need for that if people reached out more :)

My mom led by example, and my elder sister continues to do so as well.
No one in my family is good at just standing by and doing nothing.
If we can help, we try to do so. This guy was clearly hurting. I couldn't just walk by and pretend it wasn't happening.
And it's not just us - I see so much good happening in the world on a daily basis, but that's not what sells newspapers.
Most people are mostly good most of the time. And that means that the world is getting better and better, slowly sometimes, but surely.

It is nice to see people doing good deeds and they will be reward in one way or another even if they are not noticed.

Have a great week my friend :)

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