During different episodes in my life, I’ve experienced the pain of being ignored. Those memories still remain, occasionally resurfacing for whatever reason. It is in those moments; we may truly come to doubt our self-worth or question our existence at all.
I believe one of our most basic needs is to be acknowledged. When I first arrived in Doniphan, I have to admit the anonymity proved somewhat refreshing. It wasn’t long, however, that I would look forward to my visits to Fred’s and Eddie Sue’s personal greeting.
I can still recall a time in my life, during the hell of depression, that a single gesture changed my perspective. I was sitting at a stop sign feeling pretty hopeless. At that exact moment, a car passed in front of me. A person leaned out, a smiling face looked directly at me, and waved. Now, only God and I knew at that particular moment, I needed to be acknowledged.
One of my favorite quotes (and yes, I’ll admit I have a LOT of favorite quotes) is this one. “Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.”- Robin Williams. How true this is! Also, everyone you meet has a family. They are someone’s child. Twice in the past week, two different people have apologized and asked me if they were talking too much? Has technology robbed us of the sweet essence and joy of one-on-one conversations with each other? I know I am guilty of texting even my next-door neighbor, rather than walking a few steps to knock on her door.
Another quote I love is: “Always smile back at little children. To ignore them is to destroy their belief that the world is good.” ~ Pam Brown. I’d like to take it a step further to say a smile and a greeting can mean more than we know to EVERYONE. Who knows? It might mean the same as that wave did for me, so much so that I still remember that exact moment over 20 years later.
We were all placed here by a loving God who created us for a purpose and loves us unconditionally. We’re all in this together.
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou