The joy of helping...

A couple of days ago our organization needed to come before the municipal council to lobby on a critical decision the town was about to make. Because i am so new to the scene and am not familiar with a lot of our history, we decided that our chairperson would do the speaking and I would assist her. So I helped draft the speech, prepared the script, and so on. I wanted to do my best to help her do her best, so I shared with her little things that I had learned from my public speaking background, even little things like taking out the staple from your notes before you speak and how to fold up the corners of the notes to make it easier to move the pages (Go ahead, say it...I am a control freak :-)

I stood next to her as she spoke as a resource person in case the council have questions to ask us. And as she spoke, my mind was like a running 'teleprompter', seeing each line of the script come up, and quietly rooting and cheering for her. She did a wonderful job and the council gave us a favorable response. I was thrilled.

Afterwards as we talked about what happened, I felt something vaguely familiar...something that I haven't felt for years from my work...I guess the closest word to describe it would be "Joy". It was the simple joy of knowing that you have helped somone. In a heart that has been poisoned by bitterness and hardened by anger...the drop of joy was as refreshing as a cold drink on a hot day.

Chalk that up to another step forward. Gotta keep walking...