The Road of Life I will never forget one year I went to a big Reebock awards thing in Boston honoring a few amazing people who'd helped others, such as a journalist in Africa and a woman in NY who helped mentally ill homeless people. A group of us went to lunch at a swank place, all fired up and inspired by these incredible people and the work they were doing. We came out of the restaurant to see a man on the far side of the street who was stark naked. It was April and freezing cold outside. His skin was blue from the cold. People were passing him by as if he didn't exist. Or laughing nervously. Or crossing to the other side of the street as if he had a terrible disease they might catch. Our group started walking back to the hotel but I couldn't stomach that. I took off my coat and approached the man. He held up his hand and told me please to.stay away, as if he wasn't worthy of my attention. I put the coat on the ground and he took it and put it on, crying and saying thank you and God bless you. He was clearly a disturbed individual who needed help. The police came to take the man away. The female police officer asked me if I wanted my coat back. Shocked, I said no, he could keep it. She shrugged as if I was some kind of idiot. People were smirking at me as they passed. And I wondered, am I a fool? After all, what good was I doing? He would probably end up naked again tomorrow. As I walked away with these depressing thoughts of futility in my head, a college student came up to me and said, "Don't listen to those.people. Thank you for what you've done. You've inspired me to do the same. I will never forget it." This made me realize we never know the effect our actions will have. Just be brave and stand up. It doesn't mean you'll get a reward for it. Often people will try to put you down in fact. To this day I can't forget the image of that naked man wandering the street and everyone turning away from him. And that student who maybe experienced a turning point in her life and at that moment it was just what she needed to see. It's the little things that matter.
#homeless #roadoflife #courage #reachout #practicewhatyoupreach #martialartist
