When was the last time you slowed down enough to ask if someone around you was okay? Or, for that matter, even looked up from your iPhone?
I’m as guilty as the next person of spending much of my day hunched over a device—often working, often not. But this week I was reminded in the most beautiful way, how important it can be to slow down and simply look up.
Yesterday, as I meandered down the road with my two toddlers in tow—trying desperately to keep them both focused on task, walking in a semi-straight line whilst avoiding oncoming traffic—I noticed a woman, perhaps aged in her late 70s, struggling to juggle her bags. We’d scurried past her earlier in our efforts to get to the playground ahead, but as my youngest was distracted by every flower/insect/piece of rubbish blowing in the wind… the woman, slowly, caught up with us once again.
I looked up.
She was breathless, leaning on her walking stick to steady herself and trying desperately to rearrange her grocery bags from one hand to the other.
“Are you walking home?” I asked her.
“Trying to,” she sighed.
Establishing that she was travelling in the same direction as we were, I offered to carry her bags and help her home.
“As you can see, we’re not in a hurry,” I smiled.
Instantly her shoulders relaxed, her eyes filling with gratitude. As we continued down the road, we took turns sharing our stories—quickly noting a number of parallels. And even my kids, usually desperate to get to the park, slowed down. They fell into step ahead of us, looking back frequently to make sure me and my new friend were following close behind.
Eventually we made it to her front door and I unloaded her bags onto the kitchen bench.
“Thank you so much,” she said. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t stopped.”
I placed an arm around her shoulders.
“My pleasure,” I replied. “And I’m Ashley by the way. It’s lovely to meet you.”
“I’m Joy,” she smiled.
It was one of those perfect moments, on a perfect afternoon when simply by looking up, I found Joy.
This is such a lovely story.
This is so beautiful xxx