A month ago as I was leaving a coffee shop, a young man approached me with this question, “Do you have any change?”. I stood looking at him and for the first time, I heard this question – differently.
I’ve been approached numerous times by others who have asked the same question. Each time I have either moved into my pocket or moved past them. Each time there was an ex – change between us. Each previous person invited me to the moment that this particular young man clarified for me. In the previous exchanges, I interpreted the question to mean, “Do I have any change?, in the form of dimes, quarters, dollars. Each time I made it about that kind of change. Each time I either gave the monies or not. But this young man with his deep blue eyes, blond hair and intense expression, stopped me in my tracks. Stopped me in my interpretation and stopped my mind from thinking …… stopped me from thinking, I knew what he was asking. I stood there before a teacher who asked a student, “Do you have any change?”
I asked him his name and he referred to himself as Mike. He shared his story and the uncertainty of the next minute, hour and days that lie in front of him. He shared from an open, honest, uncertainty that opened me up to hear that I could be in his shoes and have, in fact, been at moments when life seemed to scramble “my plans”. After he shared his story, I thanked him for sharing his courage and his love that had brought him to me and to the sister he had come to town to help. I thanked him for approaching me so that my filter of experience could be changed.
His message to me was this. Do I have any change? Do I have any change to bring to those who seem lost, angry, fearful, homeless? Do I have any change, without regard to its form, to share with seeming strangers who visit my life for brief moments? Do I have the courage to give change regardless of how it is received? He gave me a choice of what kind of relationship to life and love I want. He, gave me, change.
I gave him what I had at that moment. It included money which was the least of what was given and received. He received my gratitude and hug while he gave me a priceless awareness of the world I participate in. He opened himself up to receive the change that he was witnessing. He gave me the opportunity for change and to open and share. He gave me change.
As we parted, I stood for a few minutes wondering, “Who was that person?” And even that question he gave me because of his presence and choice to stop long enough to ask me, for change, to change, be change. I received a gift that continues to unfold. I hoped he received something as valuable from me in our exchange.
Thank you Mike or whomever you are. You brought me to who I Am because of who You Are.
“Be the change that you want to see in the world.” Mahatma Gandhi
