Bliss

now if somebody asked you what the happiest time of your life was,
it could be sitting around with your family, on a thrill ride with your
friends or something similar. This is about the time that I recall as
my happiest so far.

I used to be pretty selfish, if someone was wasting my time they knew
about it, i had time only for my friends and people who could do me
credit. There was this girl in my class once, her name is irrelevant,
but lets call her Emily. Now she had a lot of difficulties with both
her hearing and her sight, but with her super-thick glasses she managed
to get by okay at school by lip-reading what the teacher was
saying.

One time I was exiting a classroom when I heard Emily fumbling about on
the classroom floor. It was just me and her in the room and I saw to my
surprise that Emily didn't have her glasses on and she as obviously
searching for them but in vain because she couldn't see without them.
It wouldn't have mattered anyway, someone had taken them as a cruel
joke (later they were found smashed up in the toilets). Emily was at a
loss, she could not see very well at all and people were filing into
the classroom for the next lesson.

In the split-second I had to make the choice...did I help this poor
girl at a risk of being the laughing stock of the school or did I leave
her to it...she wouldn't blame me anyway since she could not see me
standing watching her. Of course I helped her, my selfishness barrier
was let down and my compassionate side kicked in. I gently took her arm
and put my mouth close to her ear, as I spoke words of solace she
smiled broadly and thanked me profusely for my help at guiding her to
her next lesson. I did this gladly, and to my surprise, helping Emily
felt really good.

Over the next few days whilst she was waiting for her specialise
glasses to be fitted, I became Emily's eyes. We would walk to all
lessons together, and communicate by close contact or any way possible.
Emily suddenly shone, the once shy, quiet girl became talkative and
easily likeable. One day it dawned on me...she never actually spoke
before because no one had spoken to her, and this broke my heart.

Soon after Emily decided to attend a specialist school in a new town,
it was gettig difficult for her to keep up with her disabilities. She
thanked me for all I had done and i thanked her for showing me that
life was not about me, it was about other people. She is the most
special person I ever met, also she was generous and kind and so brave.
We did not really keep in touch when she moved away but i wish we
had.

So when people ask me when my happiest time was, it was the time when I
made my first true best friend, Emily. She showed me that helping
others is truly the best path to happiness, and in that split-second
decision in the classroom, I chose the path to true bliss