Small Things.

You know when something bad happens and you freak out about it a little bit and another person it affects doesn't really freak out much even though you know they should really be upset too? Well if you know me at all, usually I am the person freaking out and someone else is the one trying to talk some sense into me.

And here's a story about one of those times.

Yesterday at work, right about 15 minutes before I was supposed to walk out the door to go to a yoga class, I realized that I had ordered the wrong forms for something that needed to be mailed out by TODAY. I talked to my work BFF (who is responsible for ordering said forms) and she started calling around to find out where we could get some.

Well they were sold out online. So instead of yoga, we walked to the closest Staples store (about 2 miles - still needed that exercise!). Well they were sold out. So we walked back to the office and started calling around. We found a store about 6 miles away that had them in stock. Which is like a lifetime in Alexandria, Virginia. And instead of that being the end of the road for my coworker, she offered to go along for the ride with me.

Stop and think about that for a second. It was already almost 7:00PM on a Monday night. I'm sure she could think of 453356093840958 better things to be doing. I know I sure could.

So we went. We got the forms. We started our trek back home.

When we were pulling out of the Staples parking lot, I said outloud "I am so mad at myself." And my coworker turned her head to look at me really quick. She said, "Well, why?" I replied, "Because I wasted all this time tonight because I told you to order the wrong thing. And I wasted your time too." She said, "Well you can be mad at yourself, but will that make you feel any better?"

And the truth was it wouldn't. It would only make me feel worse.

She said, "Well then quit being mad. No sense in it."

And I thought for a minute, because I was still mad. I said, "How do I get over it?" And she said, "Well, you just do. Just forget it ever happened."

So I did just that. And, with her help (and one glass of red wine upon arrival home), I salvaged what was left of my evening.

So what I'm trying to say here is, you should be this person every once in awhile. You should surprise someone with a kind gesture. It was probably so small to her to give up another hour or so of her evening to help me out, but to me it was huge! And since we are honest with each other, if it were her that was responsible and therefore SHE was the one going to Staples, I'm not sure I would have offered to go.

But that's changed now.

You never know what impact you have on someone, but you just have to know deep down that they appreciate it - no matter how they show it.

I look up to this woman. I respect her. I learn so much from her.

And I really hope she rubs off on me a little bit before she retires in 29 days.