I work at a relatively small office located on two floors of a building. Recently, I work more on the 2nd floor, but I used to work on the 1st and still work on both floors interchangeably. Nevertheless, I always grab coffee on the 1st, where Pak R, one of our security guards is.
Pak R is one of the friendliest security guards I’ve ever known. He greets everyone with a smile and does the extra mile of remembering people’s name. He stays in the office from 7 am to 5 pm-ish and everyday he patiently stands up and sits down in front of the office without complaining. He seems generally happy (he has a pretty good balance of time dedicated to his family, community, doing sports, etc.) and he is wise. I enjoy listening to his wisdom whenever I get a chance.
*please excuse this limited footage lol
There was this one memorable day I recall. I don’t remember what day it was nor what happened in that week. But I remember starting that morning feeling exhausted with no mood to work, maybe because I was stressed in that week. I was grabbing coffee from the pantry when Pak R offered me “Pisang Rebus (boiled banana)” that his wife made and it made my day. I was speechless and in awe as I thought nothing could excite a gloomy weekday as I didn't have a good start of the day and the outlook of the day seems to only be work.
Hmm.. funny how this universe works. It seems that it is not entitled to granting all our wishes by design/default (e.g. If we lock ourselves in a cave, nothing might happen to us). However, we are somehow exposed to possibilities of experiencing “change” from one state to another, no matter how small/big it is. Be it from good to great, from being young to old, from feeling happy to sad, from being rich to poor, etc.
Anyway, two things that I learn from that day. First, simple acts of kindness can have a big impact or so-called “change” from my state of bad mood/sad to being cheered up and energized throughout the day. I was reminded that kindness does not always come in expensive gifts/hampers, treats in fancy restaurants, but can come in simple ways with a genuine intention and a sincere heart. Hence, it can be done by anyone and at anytime.
Second, I want to notice and treasure the small and simple things everyday. I think big achievements and the big sacrifices one would seem obvious. We will appreciate it anyway, but apparently those are outliers and don’t come regularly. So fortunately, IF the simple things are sufficient, we will no longer have to rely on some astonishing dramatic accomplishment to be able to be in our "happy" state when things go south :)
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