Many years ago, I participated in a Special Olympics event representing my military unit.  There was a short race and we were to just run alongside the group and encourage them.  The group took off but there was this one little fella who dropped to the very back of the group.  I dropped back and just hung with him until he finished…when he slowed, I slowed. He finished just a step ahead of me.  His joy was life changing…for me.  It was as if he had finished first although he had come in far behind the rest.  He hugged me like I was his BFF.  I don’t know if it was because he finished ahead of me or just because he finished…the reason doesn’t really matter.  And, he was so very proud of his medal.  But here’s the thing, I have never forgotten the joy I felt that day.

Over the years, there have been many opportunities to be of service to someone.  Sometimes its an organized event, but sometimes it just a kind act to someone…a conversation with an elderly person or paying for the groceries of the person behind you in the grocery line…you never know what a word or a kind act might mean for a person that day. But in all honesty…call me selfish, because for me it is impossible for the person on the receiving end to feel the joy they give me. 

Dr. Martin Luther King once said “Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

We can all be great.