Lesson # 2: Hope Inspires Work...Work Instills Hope

In Mexico we saw hundreds of people selling anything that they could think of to earn the money that they needed for the day. On the beach they brought their boats and horses to give people rides. They drew art, they sang, they danced, they washed cars, they cooked and sold fresh food...and the list goes on.

I do not recall one instance when somebody asked me for money if there wasn't a service being offered in return.

 As bad as things are, I saw these people out selling day after day. They weren't giving up... They knew that somehow they had to eat, and they were actively working to make it happen. If they didn't believe that their efforts were good for something  - they wouldn't be doing it.

I met a man on the beach named Miguel. He had started giving tourists rides on a banana boat the week that we arrived. He spent all day every day walking up and down the beach asking people if they wanted a ride. He was charging $5.00 per/person for a 15 minute ride.

When I asked him how the work was going he said that in the first two days, he didn't make a dime.

He has a wife and an 18 month old baby at home...

On the third day he made 5 dollars.

On the fourth Eleven.

On the fifth day he made Twenty.

Here is a man who knows that other people are making money doing the same job. He has seen it work for them and he REALLY needs it to work for him. He believes that it is possible, and even when it may have seemed that he wasn't capable, he kept working at it. His ability to communicate in English has to improved. His profit was increasing by the day when we left.

I can't imagine what more than hope could have carried Miguel to continue selling on that third day, or even the fourth.

I saw people living in terrible circumstances...but they were LIVING.  They were up every morning cooking, taking care of their kids, and working to do whatever they could to better their situations.  I just can't believe that it is merely an instinct for survival that carries people through times like these.

I know that the majority of us are not facing these same trials; but I know for myself, that there are places in my life where I lack true hope. 

However, when I look back on my life, and when I think about how I saw the poor of Mexico pushing through- I really think that it may be in the work that one finds hope.

How could someone like Miguel possibly hope to have money to eat if he wasn't working for money?

It is possible that we may not really find the ability to hope for something that we want until after we have begun working and seeing small changes occur...



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Lessons I learned in Mexico....

Lesson #1

You can live in the most humble circumstances and still be happy...

 

These little boys roam the streets of the neighborhood where we spent most of our time. They chased our cars into town, and jumped into our arms to give us hugs and kisses every time they saw us. When we were painting, they wanted to be right there along side us. 

They were full of this contagious love and spirit that lifted everyone they interacted with.

After many trips to Mexico and lots of help from these boys, (Angel, Alex, and Giovanni) Families Helping Families discovered that the boys were living in a hole in the ground with no roof at all. FHF has since helped them build a home, but these kids were loving, serving, and teasing long before they ever had it.

It can be so difficult to be enjoyable to be around when our circumstances aren't ideal. ...but the reality is that we all face trials, and if we let them, they can really sour us.  

Choosing to be happy despite them, however, is entirely possible, and entirely up to us.These little boys taught me that no matter how bad things get, you can still love and be happy.