All in a day's ride

I'm going to make this post brief since it's technically a "holiday" weekend and my post yesterday was enough to keep me thinking for a week. Yesterday I was finishing a bike ride with my family when another family approached ours and politely asked if we had an air pump that they could borrow. We happened to have one and happily gave it up for their use. After they returned it, they asked if we had a knife to cut the tags off a new helmet...we happened to have one of those too and let them borrow it. The knife was returned and they had said thank you more than enough times. As they were riding by, going on the trail with their family, they stopped to thank us once again. This was unnecessary of course, but I was happy that we could have helped someone else.

The point I'm trying to make here is that what can seem like such a small thing to us, can be a big deal to someone else. They didn't have a working bike pump and I don't think their plans would have stayed intact if they hadn't found one. This was not an inconvenience to us (although that shouldn't always be the basis on which we decide to help someone) and it was a big deal to them.

Always be willing to help out where you can. Our families come first of course, but during our day, there are probably many opportunities to help others whether by service, inviting them to do something with you, a phone call, and email, or whatever the case may be. Never assume you know what others are going through or what they may not need. I'd rather be the one who keeps on getting turned down or always leaves a message. "Life's most persistent and urgent question is...what are you doing for others?"- Martin Luther King, Jr.