When a Little Goes A Long Way

When was the last time you said the words "how are you" and meant it or stopped to actually hear the real answer beyond the regular "fine, thank you"? There's more to life than just being so busy and self-absorbed most times, we must look out for those around us. So many people go through really awful stuff day-in-day-out but of course they hide behind an 'it is well' facade. It is up to us to check on one another and ensure we bring people out of whatever tight dark spots they may find themselves in.

While I appreciate that we often have so much going on in our own lives as well, a simple smile, a simple hello, a genuine how are you doing might be just all we need to pull a person from the brink of depression, suicide or death. And sometimes when we reach out like this, we end up helping ourselves and getting solutions to our problems in the process. Things get clearer in a more focused perspective for us.

I read a story about a young lad in Dublin who, while going to town to buy some sweets, noticed a man of about 33 years sitting on the ledge of a bridge. He knew something was obviously wrong from the tears and desolate look in the man's eyes but he went ahead to ask the man these three words "are you okay?".  Even though the man didn't say anything at first, this young lad Jamie Harrington was able to plead with and convince the young man to come down from the ledge, listen to him and talk to him for almost an hour before convincing him to call for an ambulance and get the proper help he needed. About three months ago, young Jamie got a call from the man he helped telling him that his wife was pregnant and they wanted top name their child after Jamie. That's the sweetest thing. :) Look how everything turned out just because of a genuine "are you okay".

Sensible and kind-hearted Jamie Harrington 

Let's not wait until someone is sitting on a ledge before we genuinely show them that we care and ask about their well-being. Let's keep reaching out to others especially the needy and be #AllHeartsAlways to them.