This morning I was traveling through the morning traffic at a snail’s pace.  Oddly enough, traffic has never messed with my “chi” too much as I see it as a time to either listen to the radio, or to listen to some of my favourite tunes at an extremely high volume, which I am sure have partly damaged my ears over the past four decades.

The radio was my choice today, and I was listening to 94.7, to “The Christmas Wish List” – about a single mother with a child who has special needs, and whose Christmas wish was granted through the kindness and generosity of not only the radio station, but the people whom they reach out to who are able to give back.  It immediately struck me as to how lucky I am, as are most of those around me.  I may think I have had a tough year, or that the driver in front of me paid for his license with expired beer, or that my car windows are dirty, or that I am slightly tired, or that I miss the waist line I used to have… the list is endless really.  But the reality is a shorter, sharper list.

I am lucky to not have certain challenges that face others; challenges where you wonder how on earth women such as these gather the strength they need on a daily basis to deal with the trials they need to deal with.  Suddenly, I felt like my life was put into perspective, and reminded myself to be grateful the next time I felt like I was even somewhat hard done by.

I thought too that it was only 7.30 a.m., and already I had found my lesson for the day, so I could now carry on, and think about other things.  How wrong I was.

A little while later, there was a competition on air, which was won by a lovely sounding lady – R2500.00 in grocery store vouchers.  At this time of year, this is a great competition to win (Sauvignon Blanc purchases spike by up to 33% in December – I know this for a fact – but will not be divulging how I know this), and the lovely lady was delighted.  Whilst the DJ was talking to her about her winnings, she asked if half of her prize could be donated to the recipient of the Christmas wish, for toys for the child with special needs.

My skin went mad with goose flesh. 

How incredibly kind and generous of the competition winner to halve her gift in favour of someone more needy than herself.  It showed me immediately, that even when you think you may have been witness to the indescribable trials of another, through the generosity of others, your awareness can be further raised to new heights.

I am the first to acknowledge that 2012 has brought a great deal of suffering to a huge number of people on a global scale – natural disasters, death, war and destruction, not to mention the US election! However, events like this morning somehow manage to put a huge silver lining on any potentially dark cloud, and can, in the space of thirty on air minutes, renew one’s faith in not only the triumph of the human spirit, but also, the kindness and inherent goodness that can and does exist in so many members of the race we call human.

And so the moral:  When one feels that your own road is pot-holed, and trials seem to outweigh tribulations, remember others who are stuck in the middle of one of those life lesson pot-holes; but remember too, above all else, to be kind, and giving to others, whether they are known to us or not.