The power of your actions
One day when I was a high school student, I saw a classmate from my class walking back to his house. His name was Mike.
He was carrying all his books and I thought: “Why is he taking all his books home on Friday? He must be boring. I already had plans for the whole weekend: parties and a soccer game with my friends on Saturday afternoon, so I just shrugged and went on my way.
As I was walking, I saw a bunch of guys running towards him.
When they caught up with him, they threw all his books at him and tripped him up, knocking him to the ground.
I saw that his glasses flew and fell to the ground about ten feet from him.
He looked up and I could see tremendous sadness in his eyes. My heart sank so I ran towards him as I scrambled around looking for his glasses. I saw tears in his eyes.
I put his glasses in his hands and said, “those guys are morons, they shouldn’t do this.”
He looked at me and said: “thank you!”.
There was a big smile on his face; one of those smiles that showed true gratitude.
I helped him carry his books. I saw that she lived near my house. I asked him why he hadn’t seen it before and he told me that he had just transferred from a private school. I had never met someone who went to a private school.
We walked to his house, he seemed like a good boy.
I asked him if he wanted to play soccer on Saturday with me and my friends, and he agreed.
We were together the whole weekend.
The more we got to know Mike, the better my friends and I liked him.
Monday morning came around and there was Mike with that huge stack of books again.
I stood up and said, “Hey, you’re going to build some good muscles if you carry all those books every day.”
He laughed and gave me half to help him.
Over the next four years we became the best of friends.
When we were about to finish high school, Mike decided to go to Georgetown University and I went to Duke.
I knew that we would always be friends, that the distance would not be a problem.
He would study medicine and I would study administration, with a soccer scholarship.
The big day of graduation arrived. He prepared the speech. I was happy not to be the one to talk. Mike looked really good.
He was one of those people who had found himself during high school, he had improved in all aspects. He dated more girls than me and they all adored him. Caramba! Sometimes I even felt jealous… Today was one of those days.
I could see that he was nervous about the speech, so I patted him on the back and said, “You’re going to be great, buddy.”
(She looked at me with one of those grateful looks) and smiled at me: “Thank you,” she said.
He cleared his throat and began his speech: “Graduation is a good time to say thank you to all those who have helped us through these difficult years: your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach… but mainly your friends. .
I am here to tell you that being someone’s friend is the best gift we can give and receive, and for this purpose, I am going to tell you a story.”
I was looking at my friend in disbelief when he began to tell the story of the first day we met.
That weekend he had planned to commit suicide. She talked about how she cleaned out his closet and why she carried all of his books with him so his mom wouldn’t have to pick them up from school later.
He was staring at me and smiling at me. “Luckily I was saved. My friend saved me from doing something hopeless.”
I listened in amazement as this handsome and popular boy told everyone about his moment of weakness.
His parents were also looking at me and smiling at me with that same smile of gratitude.
At that moment I realized the depth of his words:
Never underestimate the power of your actions: with a small gesture, you can change someone else’s life, for better or worse. God puts each of us in front of the lives of others to impact them in some way. Friends are angels who carry us in their arms when our wings have trouble flying.
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