Part of my job is to field a lot of strange requests. In a particularly heavy request week, one came in that sounded doable; an older lady needed some stuff taken to the dump and some trimming done. After saying no all morning, I decided to say yes. It was the smallest "yes" I could have said, but at least the whole day would not have been full of "no."
I asked my family (husband, mom and dad) to come and help, because they are wonderful people and that way we could spend our Saturday together. then I spent the next few days hoping it would rain and we wouldn't be able to go. Weather is one of my favorite excuses for not doing things.
Saturday came and the rain was gone. I came with a, "Let's get this over with" mentality. We found piles upon piles of moldy garbage that had never been thrown away. The "light trimming" ranged from whole areas that needed clearing to pruning trees 40 feet in the air (we said "no" to some of that). We got to work. It took longer than I thought, but maybe four hours later, we had done what we said we could do and packed up to leave.
When we got back in the car, my mom said, "That's exactly what I wanted to do today."
I was floored. I had spent the last few hours doing a kind thing, but my heart was unengaged. And here was my mom, who I drug into this crazy thing because saying "no" too many times in a row is hard for me, choosing this dirty, smelly work for someone will may never see again, saying that there was nothing more desirable for this day than to be doing what we did.
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