When I was in college I was very focused on doing what I needed to do to get to where I needed to be. In a way, I guess you could say, I had blinders on. In my head, it was just me, and doing the task at hand. Oddly enough, my fellow classmates had the same agenda for themselves..
One day in dance class our professor gave us this tough dance combination to learn and gave us ten minutes to reverse the entire thing and perform it in groups. So automatically, everyone in the class scattered around the room to find a practice space and start piecing the dance together.
I, like everyone else in the room, went into tunnel vision and we were all just trying to get this dance combination together. About three minutes into our personal practice time, I saw a girl in my class confused. She kept going up to different people in class desperate for someone to just help her figure out this one dance move. Over and over again, I saw classmates shrug her off so they could focus on the task at hand, including myself. As I watched her get shrugged off over and over again, it hit me. This girl really needs help. She wasn't asking for much, she just needed a little perspective.
Sometimes we get so caught up with our own needs and what we want that we completely turn a blind eye to any and everything around us. In this case, it was completely obvious she needed help, but no one wanted to stop what they were doing to help. I thought about it for a second, and thought what if this was me, what if I was in her shoes right now? Well..I would want someone to help me. I took a deep breath, walked up to her and asked if she needed help trying to figure out this combination. Her eyes immediately got real wide as she replied "yes", and I/we spent the remainder of our time going over the entire combination. One by one we each got up to perform the combination and when it was her turn I could see the confidence over her face because she now knew what she was doing.
It's been almost a decade since that day and we've been close friends ever since.
Look I understand everyone has their own agenda. We have our own lives, our own problems, and our own tasks at hand. Although it only takes a minute or two to help someone. Nobody paid me to help her, I never got some major award for being kind, but the satisfaction of knowing I gave somebody a better peace of mind is more rewarding than any piece of metal or plaque I could ever received. I just thought, if I was in need of help I would want someone to step up and help me.
Taking those few minutes to stop and help, gained me a friendship that I will have for life. So take a moment out of your"me,me,me" mentality every now and then and lend a hand. It's worth it, trust me.
Nicole
