A Simple Validation

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around."

Leo Buscaglia

Also known as 'Dr. Love'

I walk past this kid at the corridor as I got back to my office today after lunch. The corridor was actually littered with quite a number of people who came to register to be able to exercise their suffrage next year.

Actually I didn't notice the little fellow, probably around three years of age, not until I heard this clickety-clack sound behind me and a mother calling the kid's attention.

I didn't bother to look back. I simply look straight at the tinted interior glass wall at the corridor's end where our moving silhouettes can be seen, clearly defined by the backlighting of the afternoon sun.

The little fellow was actually going after me. He tried as much as he could to get even with my long strides.

Without looking back I extended my right arm behind me and did a little wave of my hand. I was a little surprised! The little boy happily grabbed my hand and quickly put it on his forehead.

Enough for me to wear a smile at midday, in fact, I let out a gleeful chortle, turned and stopped to show this little fellow this lit up face of mine and conveyed its warmth to him. "Oh, what a good little fellow, you are! Bless you, son!", I said with a smile. And I saw the little boy's face beaming with happiness.

In the Philippines, it is customary to acknowledge and give due respect to an elder. A person at least a year older than you are is considered your elder, and a person at least fifteen years of age may be accorded this customary greeting, of taking the hand and putting it on the forehead. When you do this, you are actually asking for a "blessing". The elder usually acknowledges and says, "Bless you!" This gesture is an expression of politeness and respect towards someone who is older and an indication that one is trained with good manners. This is usually done among those related by consanguinity or affinity, and seldom done if the younger person does not know the older one. To greet "Good Morning/Evening" when meeting someone you don't know would be enough courtesy.

At this tender age, this little boy may not actually understand the meaning of what he just did, but later on he will get to appreciate truly the beauty of this trait as his parents continue to inculcate this on him.

But no, I didn't know the boy actually but his little ambush was like a droplet of love percolating a torpid heart. It is not that I am the uncaring one, I am just the one who looks over too much and tends to overlook the closest and simplest that actually matters most.

Oftentimes that happens because I would get too busy trying to be significant. For what use have I if I don't mean a thing? And then I would go prove my worth somewhere, some more. I have been self-misled by thinking that I need to prove. And the more I do it, the more I doubt my worth. Feeling not worth mentioning even unto myself. It is unwanted overwork. Stealthily zapping my energy.

I have realized this: that my deepest need is the need to be needed. Not the need to prove.

The child's little ambush arrested my nonchalance. His mother can only laugh nearby. As I crossed the corridor in all the self-possession of a grown-up, a child's trusting innocence validated my significance. Unexpectedly.

I didn't notice the little fellow, at first. He seemed insignificant, at first.

But not until then.

I found his significance. And mine in his.

I'd like to share to you this beautiful story about a smile lost, a smile found. ",)

A smile always aches to be there.
Choose to smile today.
Choose to give it away.

-Joji