blessed

it's amazing how blessed i am. i have a home. food to eat. clothes to wear. a job to go to. school. supportive family. lovely friends. i am blessed. i've been trying to take the time and sway myself away from the materialistic things that consume my life, i'm going to be completely honest... it's a battle. but it's just that - they're things. things that have no affect on me. things that will do me no justice in the long run. it's amazing how much people get caught up in "things."  i want to share a story of something i witnessed today - it's not that i haven't witnessed what i'm about to say before... it's just that it truly hit me because i'm wanting to make myself a better person. here goes.... as i was driving in layton earlier today i was driving up to a stop sign where i saw a young man struggling in a wheelchair. this young man struggled to get from one side of the side walk to the other because his whole body was completely mangled. mangled in the sense that his legs would literally go benethe the wheels of the wheelchair and he could not control where he was going. as i got closer to the stop sign i could see in his eyes a sense of panic because he was afraid i was going to hit him. this panic that shot right through my heart. i wanted to park my car and help the young man across the street so i didn't have to see him stuggle. i wanted to help him in any way i could - i just didn't know how. their were cars behind me and i did not want to get in their way but i could not just leave him there without doing SOMETHING. as i drew close and made a complete stop at the stop sign i noticed the man had a sign in  his lap - unable to read it, i thought it had said "help." a million things went through my head like... how does this poor man cook, get dressed, or any of the natural instincts a healthy human being has... my heart broke. i immediatley dug through my purse to find him some money parked my car, jumped out and gave it to him. whether money was going to help him or not i had to do something. that was as much as i could do. he looked at me with love in his eyes. he addressed me a "thank you," in a bruised way. you could tell he had much more wrong with him than just his legs. it was his mind - the way he spoke his words, his body... the way his hands and arms moved as well as his legs and feet. bless his heart. driving away from the situation i started to really think about how blessed i am. blessed with the little things. not money, not a nice car, not any of the materialistic things - but blessed with a healthy mind, blessed with working legs, blessed with the sense of hearing clearly. i am so blessed. i know we all have our struggles but remember... it could always be worse.