You Might be an Angel

I'll be honest. I had planned a completely different post for today. But then this morning I received a phone call with some bad news. I was very upset.  So upset in fact that after I dropped the boys at the creche I sat in the car and cried for an hour.

After a while I realised that I still had to go and get some food from the supermarket for lunch, so I dropped into Lidl to pick up a few things.

By this time I had a splitting headache (which has still not gone away...hence the short post for today) but when I got to the cash desk I saw a familiar face in the queue in front of me. It was a man I have bumped into a few times around town and at the auction, but someone I have never spoken to properly. I don't even know his name. He recognised me too and smiled, and then we stood and chatted for around thirty seconds. That was it.

Of course I didn't say anything about my news or why I looked upset -but those few seconds - someone I hardly knew saying a few nice words in the supermarket- made a huge difference at that particular moment. It was just the touch of human warmth that I needed right then.

The reason I mention this, is simply because it occurred to me afterwards that everything we do in life has an effect on other people. Often we have no idea how big that effect can be. Just smiling at someone could be the nicest thing that has happened to the recipient all day. Saying hello to a person you hardly know could brighten up their day just when they need it the most. We never know exactly what is going on in the head or the life of the person we are talking to...and it just might be that you are the angel that was sent to make things a tiny bit better at that moment in time.

Remember that the next time you are not sure whether you have the courage to talk to someone you don't know very well - it might just be that you are the angel they have been waiting for.