Last night, I got a request to pick someone up from the area at the foot of the Griffith Observatory. When I arrived it was very dark and on the corner, stood a small-framed young woman who was waiting for me. When she got into the car, I realized that she did not speak any English, only Japanese. I proceeded to take her to her requested destination at The Griffith Observatory, but was not allowed to go up the hill because the observatory was closed.
I tried to tell her that I could not take her where she wanted, but I could take her somewhere else. She could not understand me. At that moment, I remembered that Google has a Google translator so I said what I wanted to tell her into Google translator and handed her my phone. She understood me then and she smiled. She updated the destination on her phone to her home address and pointed at her phone and said, “My house.” I put on 94.7 FM for some soothing music and we began our journey to her house. I smiled at her in the rearview to let her know that everything was okay. When we arrived at her home, she gave me her phone and when I looked at it, it said, “Thank you for bringing me to my home. I am glad you came.” I was almost moved to tears, but I did not want to frighten her so I smiled the biggest smile I had and said “You’re welcome.” As she closed the door, she waved at me, bowed and smiled.
This proves to me that any obstacle can be overcome. The problems that we are facing as a nation and even as individuals are not unsolvable. We have to be compassionate and we have to care like it matters because it does. Thank you for reading my story. Have a great day! #uplifting #stories #tapintothepossibilities #thewave #google
She hardly looked at me as she jumped into my car, slammed the door and said sharply, Go straight!” It took her one breath to tell me that as she kept talking on her phone. When I looked into the rear view mirror at her face, I instantly felt a sense of sadness. She was a beautiful girl, probably in her first year at UCLA. She had on brightly colored shorts and a summertime top with wavy blonde hair tossed carelessly over her shoulders. The weather was warm with a cool breeze and the campus was alive with people hurrying to get to their destinations.
I did not listen to her conversation, but the person on the other end of her conversation could not have been talking much as she rattled off a series of fast sentences drenched in a restrained panic. She paused long enough to bark another order, “Turn left here!” I continued to drive and I felt sorry for this young stranger. I wanted to tell her that it was going to be alright. I kept silent. The desire to tell her grew stronger and I dismissed it because she was on the phone talking, non-stop. When she released the call, I looked in the mirror at her face which looked like she had received the worst news. Her blue eyes probably sparkled when she smiled, but at this moment, they were sad…worried, and she looked out the window not seeing all the beauty that the day was dangling in front of her. Her voice softened as she said, “I am sorry, take a right here, please.” She must have suddenly become aware of the tone she was using to speak to me.
At the stop sign, I called her by name, “Amanda…” She did not hear me, too deep in the thoughts that had blinded her to her actions. She was on emotional auto-pilot. Again, I softly called her name, “Amanda…” When she looked at me, I looked her straight in her eyes and said, “It is going to be alright.” Our glance was constant as if, over her first response to doubt me, she was trying to see if I was telling the truth. I was not prepared for what happened next because her eyes instantly welled up with tears that rolled down her cheeks like they had been waiting for permission to fall. I clumsily grabbed a box of Kleenex from under my center dash and handed the box to her. She pulled several tissues out of the box and lowered her face into the soft pillow she had created in her hands. As soon as she dried her face, more tears fell and she told me that all of her classes had been dropped and she was devastated. It was her first year at UCLA and now she had to maneuver through life’s obstacles without the immediate cloak of directional protection from her mom and dad who usually stepped in to smooth things out for her.
She was going to the class to plead with the instructor to add her into the class. I told her that it was all going to work out for her, but that she had to believe that. I told her she was given this obstacle to make her stronger, even if it seemed unfair. “You will understand this challenge later, but for now. Go to the class and calmly talk to the professor. I graduated from here in 2012 and I can tell you that instructors add you when they say they are not adding anymore students and they make a way for you when you are sure they will not, but you have to ask them. If you have the time, splash some cold water on your face before you go to class. You are going to be fine, Amanda. Try not to worry too much.” She smiled at me and it was like the sun pushed past stormy clouds to change the look of the day. Her face changed, “Thank you so much, Teresa, you can just let me out at the corner,” she said in a tone that suggested she thought she had taken too much of my time. I smiled and took her right up to the building’s entrance. She thanked me again through a vulnerable smile as she hopped out of my car and ran up the stairs. I hope she remembers what I told her. She is going to be alright.
A few days ago, I was driving home. It was dark and I decided to go to McDonald to get a happy meal (I keep the toys for the kids’ baskets that I make at Christmas). As I drove up, there was a choice of two lanes to drive through. I squinted at the menu and in the first lane there was a woman huddled under the sign clutching her belongings close to her chest. I decided to go to the other ordering station, but while I sat there, I started to feel ashamed. What was wrong with me? I had intentionally avoided someone who was in need. I lost my appetite, but I went through the drive-thru and ordered a happy meal anyway. I circled back around to see if she was still there and she was gone. I shook my head and just sat there. How could I have been so selfish? I was disappointed in myself and then I stopped thinking about myself and did what I do best…find people. I looked over to my left and saw the shadow of a small woman walking slowly through the parking lot with her head held down like she was watching her feet. I secretly prayed this was her. I drove slowly up to her, rolled down my window and asked her if she was hungry. She turned and said she was so I gave her the food. She thanked me for the food and immediately went over and squatted beneath a nearby tree. She looked down, placed her belongings closely beside her and began eating slowly as she looked around in the darkness. You could barely see her squatting there in the shadow of the tree that kept the luminosity of the street light from giving her away. I learned a valuable lesson from that encounter. Sometimes, it does not matter if you hesitate to do something right as long as you do it.
I went to Oki’s Dog to get some fries because that was all I could afford. While standing inside, I could see a young man outside putting on his jacket in the rain. The young lady behind the counter said, “That man is really nice!” I was curious so I said, “What did he do?” She then smiled and said, “He gave his jacket to the guy standing in the rain.” Just as I started to smile, the young man ordered food for the man to whom he had given his coat. I thought to myself, this is the kind of person I want in my life, someone who is compassionate and in touch with humanity. I walked around to the outside counter and as I got to where he was, he had walked away. I stood there silent and disappointed when suddenly he turned around and smiled at me. I said, “I wished you back to me.” He walked over and I said. “You did a beautiful thing just now and I would be honored to be your friend. Here is my card so we can keep in touch.” He told me that he saw that the man was cold and looked hungry so he gave him his jacket and bought him some food. The interesting thing is, the man to whom he had lent his jacket, protested the offer of food, but the young man insisted and bought him a special. I smiled and told him that I am just like him. Remember, it doesn’t take much to be a blessing to someone. When he sends me a friend request, that will be my blessing.
I was standing in line chatting with the customers and humming along with Muzak. When I got up to the window, I heard a very tall and commanding man behind me say, “I thought I heard someone singing.” I turned to him and said with a big smile, “I was humming. You could hear me?” He shook his head in acknowledgement and asked me if I could sing as good as Howard Hewett, who was singing, “This Ring” over the sound system. I smiled at him and said, “Oh, I can sing!” He then said, if you can sing better than Howard, I will give you $20 (wait for it…). The teller was busy typing into the computer so I had time to have the conversation. The man then started to talk about the best fried chicken was…I interrupted and said, “Don’t try to change the subject, I was getting ready to sing.” The people in line laughed and waited for me to begin. I started to sing, “Who’s Loving You,” as I slowly walked toward him and reached for the $20 that he had peeled from a large wad of cash. The people in line were smiling and the tellers were smiling and the manager walked out to listen. The man gave me the $20 after I successfully hit the high note at the end of the song and said, “I bet she didn’t know that she would be getting this $20 at the credit union today.” To which I replied, “No, I didn’t, but I did know that I would receive a blessing today because God is good!”. Everyone looked happy even the people who were standing in line with serious faces before I sang. I walked out waving and said, “I’ll be here all week!” I could hear people laughing as I walked out. As I drove off, a lady was walking to her car and she gave me this huge smile and I smiled back. I have been a member of this credit union since 1981 and this is the first time I have sung in their lobby. Who knows, it might not be the last.
When you know who you are and why you were put here on this earth, a source of inner peace takes over. You find happiness in the knowledge that you are here for a purpose and knowing what that purpose is makes you feel better about yourself and inspires you to believe in the phenomenal things you are capable of doing. You begin to believe in the impossible being elevated to the possible and you start to understand that a lot of what we can do lies in our ability to use our strengths and weaknesses as our paths to higher learning and valuable lessons. When we go through challenges, we learn that we should use our trials as a foundation for our triumphs and not let them become catalysts for our failure. When you truly understand who you are, there is power there and with personal power, you can do anything.
I had a very important meeting a few days ago and it went very well. On my way home, I stopped by my favorite chicken place to get some biscuits. Believe it or not, I don’t go for the chicken, but I love the biscuits. When I drove up to the window, I ordered my biscuits with an excitement that I could hardly obtain. Then, I stopped and had the feeling that I should order lunch. I didn’t really want to order from this place, but my stomach reminded me that I was indeed hungry so I ordered a shrimp lunch. When I got to the window, I asked the clerk what came with the meal and she said it came with a biscuit and fries. I didn’t really want the fries so I asked if I could substitute the fries with coleslaw. Her face told me that was going to be a problem so I smiled and said, “The fries are already done, huh? Ok, that’s alright.” She smiled at me and said, “Don’t worry, I will just give the coleslaw to you.” I thanked her and when she handed me the food, I said, “Have a blessed life!” and drove off as she stood at the window smiling.
I still had to get gas so I said lovingly to my car, “I am going to put some gas in you right now. Please don’t strand us.” I came to the next intersection with gas stations on three corners. I reluctantly chose the Shell station (nothing personal. Shell). When I drove up to my pump, I noticed a man asleep against the wall. He had a half bottle of orange juice next to him and crumbled trash bags surrounding him. I now understood why I had bought the food. I walked over to him and without waking him, I placed the food beside him and walked back to my car to continue pumping gas. I prayed to God to make his food invisible to everyone, but him. I did not want anyone to take it. As I pumped my gas, I smiled at the thought of him waking up to a hot meal and then I thought that I should wake him to make sure he knew he had food. I drove by and said, “Excuse me, sir.” He woke up and seemed a little disoriented. I smiled at him and said, “I bought some food for you.” I had to point to the food because he was still waking up. When he looked over to where I was pointing and saw the food, he smiled the most sincere smile and his face looked overjoyed. He immediately opened the box as I drove off around the back of the gas station. Then it hit me, I should give him the bottled water too…but my last two biscuits too?!? I was still hungry, but I drove back around and got out of my car and gave him the water and…yes, my last two precious biscuits (if you only knew…lol), He thanked God and so did I as I drove down La Brea smiling with my stomach growling.
Tonight, I met a young actress who was looking for a place to rent for a few months. She said she had been looking on Craig’s List, but had attracted a few questionable replies. I told her that Craig’s List had received some bad press and perhaps she should try other avenues as well. I suggested looking into papers near campuses because they often have vacancies for students who sometimes rent for a few months. I also suggested she ride around the neighborhoods that she wanted to live in because there could be opportunities that are not listed publicly. We both laughed when I suggested facebook, but then we realized that facebook was not a bad idea either.
As we drove down La Cienega Blvd., I noticed a white, plastic H&M bag sitting on the bench at the bus stop. People were driving by and walking by without even noticing the bag sitting conspicuously on the bench. I turned to her and said, “Wouldn’t it be cool if there was money in that bag?” She quickly looked over at the bag and then quickly looked back at me and said with excitement, “Should we check?!? Then her voice dropped and got serious, “If there is money in that bag, we are outta here!” We both laughed and the light changed so we continued down the street joking about paying off our debts, giving money to charity and traveling around the world.
Then, we started to talk about life and I told her that I was really happy with my life right now, but that it was not that way a few months ago. I told her that last year I felt like I no longer had a plan and that I was unsure what I wanted do. I shared with her how I was on track to go to law school, but had not done well on my LSAT. I admitted that my self-sabotage had left me feeling sad, diminished and sometimes I would just sit and cry. She was quiet for a moment and then she said, “I feel that way now.” I looked at her and told her that I had an idea how she felt and I said to her, “No matter how bad it feels right now, you are going to come out of this place in your life and when you do, you are going to be grateful that you survived, like I am right now. I told her that I know it seems like she does not know what she wants to do and that can make a person feel sad and confused, but I assured her that it was alright not to know every step to her future. She slowly shook her head in agreement as she looked out her window as if in deep thought. She continued to listen to me as I said, “We do the best we can in life and sometimes we don’t, but the most important thing is to keep on moving forward. You have to keep moving forward because that is the only way you can come out of it. You will look back on these challenges and know that they were necessary and you will be able to help someone else one day who finds themselves in this position. I paused and then said, “Your trials will be the foundation of your triumph.” She smiled at me and said, she was glad she finally met someone who really understood how she felt; it made her feel less alone.
I gave her my T.A.P. into the Possibilities card and told her that she had no reason to feel alone now because she could call me anytime and I would remind her how fortunate and extraordinary she is. When she got out of my car, she thanked me and told me that my words had really helped her. Before she closed the door, she said cheerfully, “Make sure you go back and get that bag of money we saw.” We both laughed and she walked to her house as I watched until she got inside, I didn’t get a chance to go back and see if our bag of money was still there. It didn’t matter; we both got what we needed. I drove down the street and asked God to look after her and to give her peace of mind and an unburdened heart. I couldn’t help the tears welling up in my eyes as I prayed, but I know it is going to be alright for her and for me.
When I got home, I had a pleasant surprise waiting, a message from her which read: “Hello Teresa…Thank you for your kind words. I really appreciate everything you said and I hope you found a bag of money tonight and paid off all your debts! Have a beautiful evening.” Her message made me smile. You never know what taking the time to listen and encourage someone can do, but I am finding out.
I want to remember what these days feel like because last year, for most of the year, I understood what it meant to not have a clue about what I wanted to do with my life. After seven years of being at a community college and then UCLA, my life was planned out seven years ahead of me and it was comfortable for me to know that I had a plan. In my last semester at UCLA, I decided to go to law school. I thought I would be good at it because I am always reaching out and helping people with situations that require creative communication and the power of persuasion. I left UCLA in 2012 with College Honors and was selected from a pool of Law Fellows to work as a case assistant at a law firm in downtown Los Angeles. The experience removed the tint of fairy-tale hues from my glasses and gave me something to think about. I was concerned because it did not feel right. I felt like my talents were not being used, that I was being underestimated and underappreciated. My personality seemed to be too joyous, optimistic and compassionate for the firm. I was confused and often disappointed at the way in which I was treated, but I chalked it up to something I had to go through in order to learn a valuable lesson. That lesson was that when I was in my proper element, I would not feel that way.
My friends know me as someone who is generous and compassionate about the needs of others. I have had some friends marvel over how I will give someone my last five dollars when I do not know where my next meal is coming from. I will tell you this. In my world, kindness is key. Not only when it is convenient, but especially when it is not convenient. When I see that someone needs help, i am compelled to do what I can to help them. It feels natural, it feels comfortable and it feels very fulfilling. Almost unlike anything else that I do in my life with the exception of singing in the studio. I look for situations where I can be of service in everyday situations. Two such situations happened today and that is what I want to share. I knew that I had not been here to blog on my page, I was too sad and didn’t feel inspired to write. I never got rid of my blog though because I knew it was born for a reason and that when I was ready, I would return to write and encourage others. It waited for me and it was not in vain. Here is my story…
I was driving down Venice Boulevard on my way to the Department of Motor Vehicles in Culver City when I spotted a young woman standing on the bus stop. Her nose was bandaged and she looked like she was in a hurry. I thought to myself that her injuries must be from abuse. I don’t know why I thought that instead of that she had a nose job. As I sat at the traffic light, a bus pulled up and she rushed to meet it, since the driver may not have seen her, but it passed her and pulled up behind me. In my rear view mirror, I could see that she had reached the door of the bus and was motioning for permission to be admitted. The bus driver ignored her and made a dismissive motion with his hand for her to get out of the street. When the light turned green I sat there, in hopes that he would see traffic was not moving and he could pick her up. He began to blow his horn at me so after a few more seconds, I reluctantly moved forward…slowly. Our eyes met as I glanced into my rear view mirror and I just shook my head in disappointment.
I knew in my heart that I had to help her get to her destination so I drove until I could safely turn around and then I went back to where I saw her. It seemed like traffic had slowed down to prevent me from my mission and I was afraid I would miss her. When I realized that I was getting anxious, I said to myself, “Calm down, you are just excited and if she is not there, it will be because a bus picked her up so either way it is a good thing.” Talking to myself helps me to relax when my emotions get fired up. I made my final U-turn and saw the #33 bus in the distance coming down Venice. As I drove up, I saw her talking to a mechanic at the shop behind her. I had already rolled down my window so I could talk to her. I waited a moment and she turned around and I smiled and said, “I can’t believe that bus driver did not pick you up. I was right in front of him and I saw what happened. There is a bus coming behind me, but if you want to let me give you a ride, I would be honored to do that.” She smiled and did not hesitate to thank me and ask me if I was sure. I told her I was sure; it was totally up to her. She accepted my invitation and got into my car. The first thing she said to me after thanking me profusely was that God was so good to her and that she was standing on the bus stop professing her love for Him after the bus had left her standing at the designated bus stop. She gave me directions and told me how grateful she was. Every other thought she expressed was about how wonderful God was and then she admitted to me that she had been battered by her boyfriend so badly that she had needed surgery. When I told her that I knew, she just looked at me and said, “You are an angel and your wings are so tightly tucked that I didn’t see them at first.” I smiled and asked myself how I even knew she had been battered.
We rode down Venice as she told me she had found a place that does reconstructive surgery on women who can’t afford it. She praised God for being chosen to receive the free service. The funny thing is that though I was driving with the flow of traffic and paying close attention, cars were beeping their horns at me. It was strange. I told her it was if they were trying to disturb the joy we had created with our conversation and praise. She agreed and told me she had thought the same thing. We both laughed and kept on talking. It wasn’t until I got to her destination that I asked what her name was. She smiled and told me it was Shani. I told her that she had a beautiful name and that she was a beautiful person. I told her she was a good person and I meant it. She asked if she could have my number so I gave it to her. She then asked if she could give me a hug and I gladly hugged her. As she got out of my car, I told her once again that she was a good person. She smiled and waved at me as I drove off smiling. I had a feeling that I was right where I was supposed to be. I felt appreciated and I felt grateful that I had helped someone. I felt blessed and I felt worthy. It was feeling that I carried on to my next experience at the underpass…
The truth is, I have been putting on a brave face. I have been having small doubts about being able to manage the next round of my goals and then it happened… I was driving down Venice Blvd and I saw a man in a wheelchair trying to put a cover over the windshield of a motor home. I don’t have to remind you how high up that is. Anyway, there he was with one of those clutch things patiently putting the leather cover over the window. I looked at him in my rear view mirror as I passed him. Then I had this lingering feeling. Had I not just put in my Law Fellows personal statement that “when I see someone in need, I am compelled to help them”? Did I lie? I turned my car around and asked him if he needed help. He said “I am trying to put the cover on, I can do it.” I parked in an auto repair driveway and told the guy, that was looking at me like I was crazy, that I would not be long. I put the leather cover over the windshield and windows for the man in the wheelchair while we chatted. He said he could not believe I turned around. I was thinking to myself that I could not believe I hesitated. We laughed and he thanked me and I was on my way.
There are a few lessons here:
1. If he can put on a windshield cover from a wheel chair, I can surely master the LSAT and law school.
2. Anything you think you can do, you can.
3. I have to focus on my strengths and not my weaknesses.
T.A.P. into the Possibilities 