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Believe...

Friday, December 10

It's LATE friday afternoon.
I usually post in the morning.
But...
I've had to put design work before all-else the past few days.
I've been up to some CUTE things...
but too busy to share them. *sigh*

But today's post isn't about design work.
It's not about the cute party ideas I've found online...
and it's not even about the recap of Ella's birthday or the baby shower I still need to post details about.

I wanted to focus on something completely different.
Something I feel is appropriate for the season we are in.
Something that inspired me...
the type of inspiration that lights a little fire inside my heart and makes me want to share it with others.

I hope it warms your heart as well...enjoy.

The girls and I were standing in the kitchen when J walked in at the close of his work day.
He had his usual bundle of mail from the mailbox in his hands...
but he set all of it down keeping hold of one envelope in particular.
With a funny look of disbelief on his face...
he hands the plain white, ordinary-looking envelope to me and says, "Here. Read this."
I open it up to find this...

recyclemanchristmascard8959

I'm looking at the card thinking "Typical Christmas card...nothing special?"
"Who's this from?", I ask.
J says..."Open it"...
And so I did.
And here's what I found...


recyclemanchristmascard8960

My heart was so touched by the signature...
the raw handwriting...
the simplicity of the card...
the fact that he called himself the "recycle" man instead of what Ella knows him as: "The Trash Man".
I wasn't sure what to say at first.
I think I managed the words "Wow..."
and then I think I said "That's what this season is all about"...
and then I quickly declared "I'm posting this on my blog". *wink*
I believe we were all equally touched...
I mean seriously...my eyes started to tear up.


Now.
We can choose to look at this in two ways.

OPTION #1 (the Believer)
A heartfelt gesture from a lone "recycle man" who sincerely reached out to extend holiday wishes to the nameless
faces belonging to the garbage cans he kindly empties twice a week.

OPTION #2 (the non-Believer)
An empty, heartless attempt from a shady person who's looking to stir up warm feelings/kindness and generosity from the unsuspecting, innocent and naive people he provides weekly service to.

And you know what.
I hate to think OPTION #2 would seem more likely in today's world - especially in these economic times. (And who knows... the Recycling company he works for may provide the free Holiday cards to their employees hoping the public will compensate for the inability to provide Christmas bonuses to their employees this year)?

The truth of the matter is...
I don't WANT to believe OPTION #2.
And it wasn't until I shared the incident with my mom that she opened my eyes to the probable reality of the intent behind the card...

So...
that cold draft that rushed over me for just a second when I became aware Option #2 even existed?
Well it's gone.
I bundled myself back up in that warm blanket of initial inspiration I felt.
I stuffed feelings of kindness under the door of doubt!
I'm choosing to believe in the good in people.
I'm choosing to pass along the warm feeling I felt when I opened the card.
And for many of you - receiving cards from your recycle man and mail carriers my be old-hat.
But since it's new to me...
I'm going to relish in it...
And I'm going to stand in the place of innocence as long as I possibly can -
fighting off any disbelievers I come across.
Warmth and goodness is what this season is all about.
It's what life should ALWAYS be about.
Thank you Mr. Recycle Man...
heartfelt or not...
your gesture touched me.
It's exactly what I needed to enjoy the upcoming holidays.
To focus on what really matters:
Taking a minute to reach out and connect with others...
So let's reach out people.
Let's believe in the goodness of others.
I can promise you the holidays will be far more enjoyable if we but believe.

Enjoy your weekend...

KEEPING IT REAL
Until I received that card...
I really was struggling with the whole "spirit of the holiday" thing.
To seal the deal...
We were also unexpectedly "Elfed" by our neighbors this week too! (more on that next week)
Thanks to those two incidents of "reaching out"...
I'm happily on the right track to sincerely enjoying the holidays...how about you!?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I dont think that it is option 2. Why would it?

No, rather someone that wants to give some christmas joy, but maybe also to remind you that he is there all the year. Did you ever buy him a box of chocolate, a christmas flower or even a christmas card? If not, now is the time to do it.

jackie fo said...

That is really sweet and touching. Thank you for sharing.

Kori Clark said...

Hey Jess, I just saw this post, as I was out of town Friday...but I must say my eyes welled just looking at this! I am with you all the way. Option #1, I refuse to think the worst of anyone and I think everyone deserves the benefit of not being judged, especially for making a gesture of kindness...regardless of anything else. Rock on, Sweet Jessica. Great Post!

Anonymous said...

I always give gifts to our "trash guy" Mail lady, milk truck driver. Whenever I bake and have extra they receive. They love it and so do I. Holiday or not I like to bake but it is too much for our family so instead of letting it go to waste I give to them. It is easy as they are there either everyday or once a week.
I almost cried when our ups guy retired. He was amazing! Every time he came I always had a treat for him.
The janitor at the school got a tin of sweets this year.
I refuse to believe they were forced to do that. The chances of getting something in return I believe is very small. You could turn ever good deed into something negative if you wanted.

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