ANYTHING GOOD IN MY LIFE CAME FROM HELPING SOMEONE

by Michele Boy | February 9, 2023

I heard a quote from an actor Danny Trejo. If you don’t know him, he had a tough past ended up on drugs and in prison. 
But that wasn’t the end of his story. While in prison, he found faith, got sober, and cleaned up his life. I admire Trejo for his authenticity and honesty about his past and his life. 
He said, “Anything good in my life came from helping someone.”
He owes everything to helping someone. 
Trejo has mentioned, “I’m so blessed. I’m still scared that somebody’s going to wake me up and say, ‘Hey, we’re still in prison. Let’s go to chow.’” 
That thought sat with me all week, not prison, but that I got to help someone.  Actually, I got to help several someones.
Even though I was struggling, busy, tired, weary, I got to help someone.  And it felt great.
 Do you look for the opportunities to help? 
A lot of times the help I offer is just being there for someone. Maybe they are hurting or struggling? Maybe they just want to know they aren’t alone.
 I never once thought as I was helping someone, what’s in it for me. My heart and my motives were pure. 
Then out of the blue someone offered to help my daughter with basketball. I was surprised and grateful. 
 Life is full of surprises. Sometimes awful and sometimes wonderful. 
 So in my weary, tired, February, is it going to be summer soon, state, I want to stir up into flame that energy. 
I want to have the excitement of a child waiting for their birthday. Do you have that? 
I guess counting my blessings and helping people are some of the best ways for me to get myself going. 
 A couple of weeks ago my family did an escape room. It’s like a real life puzzle. Everything in the room is clues to help escape. So you rely on your intuition, intelligence, each other, look for clues, and  work together to solve the puzzle. 
Once in a while a voice comes on with clues to help when you are stuck. 
Maybe our life is an escape room. Maybe we have opportunites to use our talents and gifts to help each other. And then once in a while when we are stuck we can listen to God’s voice to get to the next level. 
I watched a video of a former NFL player who spoke of his God experiences. After a tremendous testimony, he said, “God I didn’t know you were doing anything.”
For some reason that hit me. We go about our day to day often having no idea that God is working in us and around us. 
We don’t know that He is about to use us. We don’t see the big picture. 
So whenever we get tired, wonder how we can go on, just remember He has a plan. 
I will be honest. I look around and I often don’t understand. But then I have to remember trust and faith don’t come from what we see. 
So for today in my tired, weary, February winter state, I will look for ways to help. Maybe if we all did that we could change the world. One step at a time. One hand held out a time. One phone call or text at a time. 
It’s true for me, anything good in my life came from helping someone.
So thanks Danny Trejo. And thanks to the person who shared that message with me.
Go help someone.