I was witness to this last Saturday.
For a fund raiser chili cook off contest, I was in charge of generating traffic to our chili booth, and to motivate the attendants to vote for our chili as the best.
Honestly, I didn’t taste the chili or the competing ones, as I don’t eat ground beef (yuck!), yet I was willing to exploit the herd mentality of the masses - for a good cause.
I amped the charm and worked the crowd, energetically assuring them with a sweet smile, that ours was: “The Very Best” chili! While I was diverging traffic to our booth, the competing booth across from us was looking at me with eyes like daggers (if looks could kill), as the crowd, as expected congregated at our booth – eager to taste the best chili in town.
The man in charge of cooking the chili and competing is really a cool guy. He has never won 1st place in the cook off, yet he always cooks every year gallons of chili, while maintaining that he doesn’t mind if he wins or not. He has a hard working and supporting wife, and a great teen; both girls served the chili to hundreds of people. He also volunteers every year, to construct housing in a village in northen Mexico, as well as made it possible through his neighbor to present the need to build water wells in rural villages in Asia, both projects were sponsored through our club.
He may not be the sexy guy he was 20 years ago, he may be just an average Joe, yet to me - he is already a winner!
As for me, I had the satisfaction of contributing my efforts, of being recipient of hugs galore from my peeps, and of being told: “Rose, you are a real trouper!” Before I left one also said to me: “You are a true ******** ” (not wise to mix my good girl, with my bad girl persona).
I smiled with the satisfaction of knowing, that to put “Service above Self” is something I genuinely enjoy doing, and is much bigger than just my own personal woes.
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"Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips. "~Khalil Gibran
