October 2008
OPRAH AND AN APPLE...

I recently saw an episode of Oprah that I had recorded ages ago. In her usual giveaway fashion, she was having a home built for a family in need. It made me wish that I had the financial freedom to do what she does: to simply give without concern for money or personal financial loss.

But times are scary.  The economy is crashing, the country is at war, and politics and religion seem to divide us instead of bringing us closer together.

Then, a few days later I found myself at a local fruit stand picking up a few goodies for some friends at work. I watched as an elderly woman inquired about the cost of an apple and then anxiously fumbled in her purse to find the measley quarter it cost. It seemed silly to me not to just add her apple onto my pile of other purchases, so I offered to buy it for her.  Immediately, I saw her energy shift. A stranger offering something so small, yet so unexpected, and it visibly made her day a little brighter.

It was then that I realized it’s not about the cost; the material value. It’s our energy exchange as beings on this planet. It’s the smallest of gestures that change us. It determines the difference between a good day or a bad day. It’s the smile on a subway, or someone you don’t know who holds the door open for you at the grocery store.

Visiting fruit stands and buying apples for strangers throughout Manhattan was probably not a realisitic way to pass along good karma, I thought. But, I could buy five coffees a week, for strangers, and include a message:

DO SOMETHING!

Lift someone’s spirits today. Make someone smile. Shift someone’s energy.

They’ll feel special.......and you’ll feel good too!!

So join me in committing "random acts of kindness". YOU HAVE BEEN LATTE-D! Now pass it on, and please tell us about your experience, in hopes that others will want to "latte" some strangers as well!