The wind was blowing in Toronto when I got off the train yesterday. They had snow on the way and with the wind-chill it felt like -7. Brrr 🥶
I saw a homeless guy bundled up in a doorway sleeping. I had somewhere to be, but I woke him up, gave him 20 bucks and we had a quick chat. He said he's been to treatment only to end up homeless again and again, so why bother. He told me how hard it is out on the streets in Toronto. He’s only 29.
I said: Don't give up, there are a lot of us who care. I told him 13 years ago I was in the same situation as him, and now I'm in Toronto giving talks about how I changed my life.
At the end of our conversation he said "You're the first person to ever wake me up and chat with me, why?” I told him that one Christmas morning a lady woke me up, gave me a coffee, a hug, 50 bucks and said Merry Christmas … and it changed my life.
Kindness matters. You never know when a few minutes out of your day can change the life of someone else. (Am I guaranteed it helped him? No. Did it brighten his day? Yes. #StillWorthIt)