Do What You Can

In life, we cannot do everything. We should, though, strive to do what we can. We may not always win, yet we will feel good for what we do.

I believe in helping others where I can. And I think that I should learn something new every day. I work at a mission one day a week, where we help the homeless. We are open for a few hours, five days a week.

In doing this, many rules are set forth for us to follow. We do not, under normal circumstances, help people before we open because we need that time to get ready. We do not continue to serve people walking in after we close. And yes, as you can imagine, there are always deviations to these rules for one reason or another.

Yesterday we had several people who needed to make phone calls after we had put the phone away. As the low man in the pecking order, I cannot just reconnect the phone and let people continue making phone calls. Luckily, I had someone with more pull tell me I could do so, and we did. Someone was able to call somebody for a ride to where they needed to go. Of course, once the phone was out, someone else had to make a call, and we could not deny them.

One of the callers started asking for other items, such as toiletries. The client wanted a toothbrush, a nice toothbrush, not just any toothbrush. The caller also asked for soap. I freely gave a bar of soap, and it was handed back to me. A large bar of soap was needed, and since I had two larger bars sitting on the counter, both of them were needed. After some discussion back and forth, I handed over the second bar, even though I realized I was only supposed to give one per our rules.

Another client who was watching this said that some people are like that.  And then the observer did a remarkable thing.  That client told me about a bible verse that says, if someone wants your coat, give them your shirt also.  The more I thought about the verse, the more I realized I was doing right. Even for those who were late or wanted a second helping of something, I was doing the right thing.  That comment from an observer enabled me to learn a valuable lesson on helping and serving others.  I truly appreciate the thought.

Thank you for being with me today.  I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Author: Mike Balof

A retired Air Force Master Sergeant, Mike used to lay in bed at night and worry about what would happen if his plant closed or found himself without a job. One day his plant closed. Rather than panic and hysteria (OK, maybe a little) Mike found himself carried away on the adventure of his life. Mike started with the best job he ever had working at Home Depot. He spent 8 years working with job seekers at a local workforce center, helping them to find employment. He then started his own company developing courses, writing books and urging others to follow their own paths into the future. Mike holds a Master of Arts in Adult Education and Training and a Bachelor of Business Management, earned through the University of Phoenix and an AAS degree in Electronics Systems Technology from the Community College of the Air Force. Mike is a member of the Delta Mu Delta Business Honor Society. View all posts by Mike Balof