Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause.

Do you find yourself still believing in someone to get you what you want or give you what you need? We all do it. We want this or that, want so and so to be such and such to us...etc. We, ideally, believe in miracles. For some, they say God is the maker of miracles. Ok. I get your reasoning. However, not everyone believes in God. And whether I agree with there being a God or not, I believe this to be true: God is a person. So, therefore, I believe in the power of people. With that said, today, I experienced goodness more than once and my heart is very warm with appreciation right now.

First, at lunch, the chef asked if I was eating lunch today. I told him I loved eggplant and he offered to make me a pizza with eggplant topping - just for me. I explained that I don't have the money just yet to invest in a school lunch ticket. See, we can't pay daily, so we have to either buy a month's worth punch card, or pay for the whole term, OR, the whole year. And since I don't get paid until the end of September, I'm just brown-bagging it. Which is fine for me for now. Anyway, when I told him this, he looked sincerely at me and said, "With me, you don't need money now. I give you a card and you pay me later."  I was touched. He is a generous man who can COOK! ;) So, I may just take him up on the offer on Monday. I had already gone to the store near work for my lunch today.

Later this afternoon, a staff member asked if I was attending the dance class tonight. As it is, I'm fighting a sinus cold, but I told her that I won't be doing it this month, but maybe next month. She asked why and I was honest. I said, "you know...darn teacher salaries...haha" She laughed, and then offered to loan me whatever I needed to get by for the rest of the month - not just dance class money.  Now, I have very generous friends who have helped me out of a bind here and there, but after a long time of knowing me. These people have known me all of 3 weeks. So, I want to share my thoughts of reflection with you all:  While some people are bad and do bad things, I believe in humankind being good. I want to believe in that. I have to believe that there are more compassionate people than non-compassionate. And if I doubt it, I'll remember today. One of my favorite Chinese proverbs says:

"If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody."