Small Appreciations — In Times of BIG Change/Stress

So, the sun is shining, the sky is blue, and Las Vegas is awesome. And this short video is going to be about how to make sure it’s awesome. So, stay tuned.

So, here I am in the beginning of this new adventure. If you saw my video last week, I’ve just made a temporary move to Las Vegas, and it’s super exciting. There’s a ton of change in my life, some really good business opportunities, lots of good reasons for me to be here, including not having COVID issues going back and forth across the border. And I’m pleased to be here. But it’s been a challenge.

First of all, I drove for three days in a row, and it was long and exhausting. And then I got here and I got a hotel and I didn’t know where I was gonna live. And then when I applied for an apartment, I found out that because I was a Canadian, it was going to be like tremendous bureaucracies and issues about doing background checks given that I was a Canadian and not American and didn’t have a social security number and all that kind of stuff. And each and every little step along the way, you know, getting a rental place, starting to purchase some furniture, setting up a bank account, everything’s been difficult. A little bit of culture shock, being a Canadian in a foreign country, totally fair, but sources of frustration over and over again. And especially the not knowing when it was going to be approved for the apartment, day after day after day, and yet feeling this angst, work to do. And I’m staying in some hotel, which was a perfectly fine hotel, but it sure wasn’t home. No hotel ever is.

And yet, here’s the lesson, blessing after blessing came into my life. People have been exceedingly helpful and kind, even when they were part of the big bureaucracies that were stymying my efforts to get things done. There was a compassionate response to, “Gee, I really would like this to go faster,” and them saying, “Yeah, I get it. But here’s what we’re up against. How can I help you?” And actually trying to bring some humanity into the bureaucracy. I feel as though almost a little bit of good fortune has come into my life. And little funny things. You know, I had to get a money order today, and the money order was going to cost 3.45, no big deal at all. And had a pile of change in my pocket, and I pulled it out, and it was 3.25, and the woman just gave me the extra 25 cent rather than me breaking a 10 dollar bill. Not a big deal, right? But it was these little kindnesses, little things that people don’t need to go out of their way and do.

And, the reason why I needed that, I got this pile of change in the first place, is I was gonna do some laundry in the hotel I was in, given that I was living out of one little suitcase, and it was getting a bit excessive, the number of days I was in the hotel. And, the front counter at the hotel says, “Oh, we don’t have any change.” And so, a little frustration I feel, and yet I hear a gentleman say, “Oh, I’ve got a pile of change.” Well, we get to talking, turns out he’s a Canadian visiting from Alberta doing business from Alberta. And he says, “I got a pile of change in my car, it’s been building up for a while now. Let me just go get that for you.” And I said, “Great, that’s fantastic.” So we’re getting the change out of his car, he’s counting it out, I’ve got a 10 dollar bill to give him. He says, “No, I don’t want the 10 dollar bill.” I gave it to him anyway, and he says, “Hey, do you drink beer?” And I don’t drink a whole lot of it, but I do drink beer. “I don’t, but I got a case of beer in my truck. You want it?” I say, “Sure.” So he gives me this case of beer. So, I walk away, five dollars in quarters, I pay 10, and I get I don’t know, 20 dollars’ worth of beer. It’s a pretty good deal. And I know this is a silly thing for me to be talking about in this video today, but there’s all these kindnesses and things going well in my life, in spite of the frustrations of things not going as well as I’d want on some important parts of my life.

But to stay in grace, to stay in appreciation, and be connected with the stuff that, frankly, makes me feel good, to be appreciative and to be kind to other people, has led to a many little blessings in my life. And I don’t know if that made sense today, but that’s the message I’ve got. And if you like this content, click the like button, and subscribe to my channel. You get a new video like this every Sunday morning. Thanks for watching. See you next time.