SEEING AND ACTING

Two children, ages 6 & 2, were spotted last week wandering along a residential street with no known school bus stop or school nearby. This event might have gone unnoticed except the outside temperature in the Wisconsin town that morning was a mere 18 degrees.

A Waukesha Metro bus driver happened along on her regular route that morning and spotted the children. The bus driver, Nicole Chamberlain, stopped her bus and approached the children. She said, “Hey there, what’s going on?” The 6-year old replied, “We are looking for grandma…” With that, Chamberlain ushered the two children into the warm bus, taking off her coat and covering the toddler’s bare legs with it, and told them “I’ll help you find grandma.”

Chamberlain phoned police and within minutes the grateful grandmother arrived and explained she had fed the children their breakfast and while they were eating and watching TV she had gone downstairs to tend to the laundry. It was then the 6-year went outside and his baby sister followed along. The children were uninjured and were reunited with their grandmother without further incident.

Chamberlain, when interviewed, modestly stated “When I spotted the kids walking alone, I knew I had to help them.” This is case in point of listening to your inner self, your intuition. Nicole Chamberlain was called to action that frigid morning. She instinctively knew to stop what she was doing and act accordingly. She didn’t question this feeling, instead by taking this simple action, it took her act of kindness to another level. Chamberlain might have just radioed the incident in and continued along her route not jeopardizing her time schedule to which she was accountable. But she did not, why? Because she was called to act. By opening her bus door and gently beckoning to the children and inquiring; by her welcoming the children into the warm interior of the bus and sheltering their bare limbs with her own coat, she acted extraordinarily. I am sure there were flashes of dialogue that went through Nicole Chamberlain’s head, and she thought to herself, ‘I must help…’. And she heeded the message.

Wherein this story has the happy ending that we all are pleased with, it offers us more than that – it offers us a teaching moment. And so I ask that you take today’s actions under your wing and look for ways at doing better – take a step to further a good deed, and by that, make it an extraordinary one. For in looking for ways to do better, you will find the ‘quiet’ that accompanies that action. And in the quiet is where you will find the voice of your inner self, your intuition which will lead you in furthering your good intentions.