The Painting I Didn’t Know I Needed
*If you look close enough, I realized as I was writing this, I believe there is a woman
“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
— Melody Beattie
Things have been a little stressful lately. Between trying to start a business, working a side gig more than full-time most weeks, and the unfortunate slow periods that come with construction work, things have been tough. We know everything will be okay, but that doesn’t make the stressful moments any less stressful, especially with the way my brain works.
Mondays are usually some of my busiest days working Spark, so I woke up yesterday determined and in a good mood.
I thought, “I’m going to grind it out. I’m going to make some money. Today is going to be a good day”.
Then three orders in a row wasted my entire morning. I accepted each one, drove to the store, and even verified my identity. But when I tried to begin shopping, an error message appeared saying the order wasn’t ready—which isn’t even a thing with shopping orders. So, I knew it was some kind of glitch.
Each time, I had to call customer service and get the order canceled correctly so it wouldn’t count against my metrics.
Not exactly the productive Monday I had planned.
Finally, I received an order that actually worked. I shopped for three separate customers, and by the time I finished and started loading everything into my car, I was sweating balls and just irritated.
Then an older man—who I thought was probably in his 70s or 80s—I saw him walking directly to me.
I had my earbuds in, and my first thought was honestly, Oh, great. What is someone trying to sell me now?
But he wasn’t selling anything.
He held out a painting and said, “Here, take this painting.”
I’m sure I gave him the most confused look as I took out my earbuds.
Then he asked, “Do you like it?”
I said, “Yes, I love it. It’s absolutely beautiful.”
He replied, “Then please have it”. At first, I said I can’t just take it. And he said, “please, take it”. And he just started walking away.
I called after him, “Sir, please let me give you something for it. It’s so beautiful.”
He shook his head no and said just keep it with a smile on his face. He seemed incredibly kind – just by the look in his eyes and his voice. You know, just one of those vibes you get.
So, as he was getting closer to the door, I just said thank you so much sir! Truly! – something along those lines. I even tried to get a picture of him before he disappeared inside because I was so caught off guard by what had just happened.
I have no idea why he chose to give it to me. Maybe he could tell I was having a bad day. Maybe he gives his paintings to strangers all the time and I simply happened to be standing in the right place at the right moment.
Whatever the reason, that small act of kindness completely changed my mood and turned my perspective around.
Would a social media influencer walking up and handing me a stack of cash have helped more? Obviously. 😂 But that doesn’t make what this man gave me any less thoughtful.
He gave me my daily reminder that humanity still exists. People are still good. Sometimes a complete stranger can see you for only a few seconds and give you exactly what you didn’t know you needed.
Every time I look at this painting, I’m going to think about him. Justin and I have wanted to get decorations for our home when we moved in that aren’t just photographs—actual artwork—but it just hadn’t been a priority. So, it is awesome and this is a beautiful piece! We have already decided exactly where we’re going to put it.
I mentioned to Justin that I didn’t see his signature on it and then looked at the back of the canvas. It says “Jay Nelson” and “82 y.o.”
If anyone recognizes the painting or knows the man who created it, please let me know. I would love to give him something for it—or, if nothing else, a hug or a proper thank you. I want him to know that that act of kindness meant so much more to me than he probably realized.
If he hadn’t walked away so quickly, I would have hugged him then. It wasn’t only what he gave me. He was just so genuinely kind in the way he spoke to me.
Difficult days can still contain beautiful moments. Even when life feels heavy, kindness can be waiting in the most unexpected places.
Most importantly, I’m going to remember how much Justin and I already have.
Yes, things are stressful and uncertain right now. But they have also been so much worse.
When I was working in corporate America, I was breaking down almost daily and had no real sense of hope for my future. I was miserable.
I realize now that there really isn’t a price you can put on escaping that kind of hell. Things may not be easy today, but I’m not miserable—and I haven’t lost hope for my future. I’m not miserable today – and I spent so many years in that misery. And the price to get out of that is priceless.
Considering everything we have survived and everything we have been through, we are actually doing pretty damn well!
Yesterday didn’t go the way I had planned.
The last couple of weeks haven’t gone as planned.
But maybe I received something more valuable than another successful order: a reminder to pause, look around, and be grateful for everything that is still good.
And it came in the form of a beautiful painting from a stranger who expected absolutely nothing in return.
Thank you, Jay Nelson.
Remember to look around and recognize the things you genuinely have to be grateful for—not to dismiss what is difficult, but to remember that the difficult things aren’t the whole story.
Have a great rest of your week!
“When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.”
— Maya Angelou
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