Have You Lost Your Tail?

Have you ever read Winnie-the-Pooh? I read it for the first time last year. Ever. In my whole life. Of course I know the general stories of Pooh bear thanks to Disney, but I had never actually read the stories. My mom even has an awesome canvas covered edition from when she was a child. I used to carry it around because none of our other books were covered in red canvas with a simple bear on the cover. Loved it but never read it.
Considering Winnie-the-Pooh, I have been reading it to my son Woogie, who is 2. He has a much longer attention span than I ever did as a child. Anyway, today we read the story in which Eyeore loses his tail. For those who may not remeber, Eyeore is the sad grey donkey who continually depressed. Poor fellow. One day Pooh bear comes to him and inquires about his day, Eyeore predictably answers gloomily. Pooh decides to give him a look over and discovers that Eyeore has lost his tail. Eyeore becomes even more upset than usual. My favorite part is when Pooh, not knowing what to say that would be useful decides to do something that would be useful. He promises Eyeore that he will find his tail for him. How simple.
Pooh does not know what to say and instead does something. I think we can all learn from that. Many times friends, loved ones, and even co-workers, may be going through tough times. I know I often try to mumble my way through condolenses or sorry advice, when really, I should probably just do something helpful. Service is the best thing we can do for others.
The another lesson is on the other side of the coin. Eyeore, does nothing. He has lost his tail and being the perpetually sad character he becomes more depressed. This can be hard to overcome. When downtrodden the smallest letdown can be a crushing blow. Sometimes we cannot lift ourselves up to look for our lost tails. Sometimes we have to rely on someone else. Once we have this support though, I think it is immensely important that we do service as well. Even the simplest thing, like holding a door open for someone who has their arms full, can make a difference to the person in need and yourself. Confidence replaces doubt and self-worth increases.
One day at the post office just before Christmaas, I was mailing a package to my family in another state. It had been a crazy day with my two small children and was full of the typical Christmas stress. I was barely able to get the package taped closed and had to wait for 15 minutes in a very crowed post office. Finally, finally, I get up to the counter to discover, I had 5 dollars cash on me, one debit card that had expired and a slightly annoyed postal worker. I was just about to burst into tears when the sweet lady behind me, stepped up and paid for my whole order. I couldn't express enough gratitude to her. 8 dollars and 44 cents is not a lot of money and it probably may not seem like much to many people but in that moment of desperation it was a gentle reminder of how important service is.
Sometimes our tails get lost and sometimes our friends have lost theirs. In these moments, we need to reach out and give. It maybe hard especially if you haven't felt very how for a long time, but in the process of giving to others you may just find your lost tail again.