I recently observed something that, once again, solidifies my belief that life is very good.
In a local supermarket, I watched a man who was wheelchair bound. He had no legs. I wondered silently what the story was behind his legs. I watched him closely. He controlled the wheelchair with one arm and next to the wheelchair was the shopping cart. He got around very well. I noticed the strength in his arms. He was an average size man but the smile on his face convinced me that life was pretty good for him. I went about getting the things that I needed to get and thought nothing more about the man. Iver the course of the time I spent shopping, the man had finished and gone out to his car. When I came out of the store and got into my truck I noticed the man once again. He loaded the groceries he had purchased in the back of a full-size van. The van had double doors and he had both doors wide open. I couldn't help but watch. He got everything loaded into the van and shut the two doors. He then wheeled his chair over to the passenger side of the van. I watched him open the side door and a folded up lift engaged and lowered itself to ground level. He wheeled himself up onto the lift and pressed a button that immediately began to lift him up to the floor of the van. Without hesitation, I watched him pull himself from the chair and methodically fold his wheelchair and position it inside the van. He shuffled himself to the driver's seat and then lifted himself up into the seat. He reached toward the dashboard and obviously pressed another button. The lift folded itself, this time into the van and then the side door automatically closed.
All of this in just a matter of minutes. The whole time I watched this man do what he did with a smile of contentment on his face. He accepted this routine as his life.
I am grateful for the example of this man. I am grateful that people like him remind me that life is great! I want to be the type of person that no matter what happens I can continue to smile.
