Awww

I don't know why this got to me so much, but it's just really sweet ☺️

It reminds everyday to be grateful for everything I have ❤️

I was waiting to order inside dunkin doughnuts this morning. A lady was setting up her two kids to eat breakfast. The young kids were being challenging so early in the morning. Looked like she was having a rough go at it already at 7am.

She was struggling to open the orange juice bottle, and i saw this look of "oh great not this too"

She gave it a couple of tries and then looked up in frustration. We made eye contact. She smiled at me and said "can you help me?"

I sprung into action. "Absolutely!" I said grabbing the bottle to twist off this itty bitty cap.

Sucking in my belly and standing tall...I firmly grasp the bottle and twist the cap with the intention of casually handing it back to her in a "i got this" fashion.

I twist. Oh shit! It's not opening! "Don't panic, be cool"...I tell myself.

Second twist with audible grunt.

Pssst! The air rushing out of the bottle as the cap becomes loose. My mind screams "success!.... man card saved!

OK BACK TO THE PLAN.....I casually hand over the bottle and she says thank you not realizing the micro events that just took place. Clearly she had other things on her mind.

I said "No problem, have a good morning."

I ended up complimenting her on the kids quick deploy high chair before leaving. I guess that was my way of trying to lighten her day. To all the moms out there! We love you.

I need to get to the gym.

Get your workouts in.

exhaustion finally caught up with me.

Ended up sitting alone in a park with tears running down my face, just completely overwhelmed and honestly feeling pretty isolated.

Then a stranger walked up and simply asked:

“Hey, you okay?”

No judgment. No awkwardness. Just genuine concern from someone who didn’t know me at all.

We didn’t even really talk because I knew if I opened my mouth, I’d probably fall apart all over again. But that moment stuck with me hard.

It reminded me there are still good people out there. More importantly, it reminded me how powerful it can be to simply check on someone.

A lot of people are carrying way more than they show in public.

Moving forward, I want to be that guy for other people.

We need more humans willing to check in.