Mon 6 Nov 2006
Mr. W and I spent a lot of time wandering along Waikiki beach and its shops and tourist areas on foot while waiting for the class to arrive (we got there Saturday and the class got there Thursday). One afternoon we went into a Wolfgang Puck Express to order lunch to eat outside in the patio area and enjoy the street scene (facing the beach). While in line, I noticed a 50-ish homeless-looking black man when he entered and greeted another homeless-looking white man heartily. The two sat and chatted with each other as they ate. The first man was in amazing spirits singing along with the radio playing in the restaurant — I think it was some 70s R&B song, practically dancing as he emptied his trash from the food tray into the trash can. He then waltzed back to the table and wiped off his crumbs and emptied that in the trash, too. Mr. W and I, upon receiving our food, took it outside and nibbled at a sidewalk table. I fed a pigeon and was instantly surrounded by other shamelessly begging birds. Minutes later, the two homeless men walked out, strolled by us and the black man turned and said to us, “Success is great even [he held up his index finger professor-style] in small increments, ya know what I mean?” He finished his statement with a wink and I smiled at him. He hummed and walked off into the sunshine.
“Why’d he look at me when he said that?” Mr. W asked.
What a great quote. Maybe Mr. W needed to hear that. Or maybe the homeless looking man felt like he needed to make a difference in someone’s life that day.
It is a great quote. It echoed over and over in my head after he said it. I thought about how I defined success, and how many people get discouraged because they’re looking for some earth-shattering step up, forgetting that small steps take you to the same destination as large strides.
Those who have nothing to give.. give more.
Hmm. I’m not one of those who “have nothing to give.” Since I have stuff to give, that means I have nothing to give, which means I have to give more.
no it doesn’t mean you have nothing to give because you have ‘stuff’ to give.. in respect to what we have.. if we have nothing, then anything we do give is 100% more than what we have… so they give more.
did I confuse myself? ;-)~
No, actually, I’m impressed by the way you were able to reason yourself out of that one.
haha.. that’s exactly what I was doing…