Hi,

Hope you’re having a great day.

This story is not about a great Rabbi or a famous person.

It’s about an ordinary person that we can learn from.

… A woman parked her car at a shopping center, and when her teenage son opened his door?

It hit a shiny red Lexus SUV parked next to it.

The damage didn’t seem extensive.

But if you looked closely there was some paint chipped away.

The driver of the SUV went ballistic.  And she stormed over to the mom.

“How could you do this?  It’s my brand new car!”

The mother said, “I’m very sorry.  I’ll take care of it.”

“How could you do this?  It’s my new car!  How could you do it!”

The mother said, “Please calm down.  I’m sorry.  I’ll take care of it.

I’ll give you my name and phone number.  Call me as soon as you have an estimate.”

But how could you do this!

The woman just couldn’t calm down.

The mom told her, “I’m really sorry. 

My son has special needs.

I was trying to teach him to open the door himself.

Trying to make him more independent.

And he opened it too far.

“But how could you do this?”

“I’m very sorry.  Here’s my name and number.  I’ll take care of it.”

… Suddenly, the owner of the SUV hesitated and she said…

You know what?

Forget about it.  It’s okay.

I’m not even going to bother fixing it.

It’s just a car!”

… We all know people who are blessed with a very calm disposition.

They just never “lose it”.

Or people who manage to never lose sight of how blessed they are.

And don’t let relatively minor things get to them.

We may admire such people.  May wish we could be like them.

(And sometimes we may feel like strangling them!)

But it’s kind of hard to see them as role models.

“They’re just wired differently than me!”

… But we should be inspired by this woman, the driver of the SUV.

Because she did lose it.  She just about reached the point of no return.

But she was capable of turning things around.  Of changing her perspective.

And maybe we should think of her next time we’re about to lose it.

Especially if it’s a question of money.

Because her SUV may have been slightly damaged.

But when she drove out of that parking lot?

She was a very rich woman!