Most people might get their wisdom and enlightenment from the Dalai Lama, or Gandhi, perhaps Martin Luther King or Buddha. Mine comes from a woman I ride the morning bus with. She unconsciously smooths her snowy white hair as she bequeaths her thoughts to me. My teacher speaks eloquently of career changes, breast cancer, negative influences, even a shiner that would make Sugar Ray proud. You see, I befriended this wise woman after she took a spill while running to catch our bus. Face + sidewalk corner = immediate bruising, followed by friendship.
I work in the medical field, and I my inner "professional" kicked in as soon as she sat down beside me. I touch her rapidly swelling cheek when she asked me how it looked, and a mutual kinship began. She was shamefaced and timid that day, ego as bruised as her face. Even through her pain she was elegant and thoughtful.
Every time I've seen her since that first encounter, I learned something new about myself and humankind. Her anecdotes are timeless, profound. I often ponder her words long after I've left the musty confines of the city bus. I recall her flashing eyes of deepest brown, long-fingered hands punctuating thoughts and memories. My days begin with a woman as wise as yoda....how do yours begin?
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