When a Jamaican Woman Gives You a Rose...

I was reminded of something that happened to me a long time ago and I wish I was making this up but sometimes the Universe has a way of manifesting what you need:

I was riding the subway home after work one night. I was very depressed. I hated my two jobs, my ex-boyfriend came into town and tried to seduce me and then when I fell for it he told me I was ugly and unattractive, I was an emotional mess.

The door at the end of the train opened and a large, curvy, homeless Jamaican woman came in. She wore a pink head wrap and a white shawl. She had a fist full of droopy roses and sang a gorgeous song about birds- I can still hear the melody in my head today- and she came up to me and handed me a rose. I told her I didn’t have any money to spare. She looked at me with a smile and said, “This rose is for you.” So, I took the rose and dug in my pocket. I found a dollar and gave it to her so she gave me another rose.

Then, she said, “This is for the dollar. The first one was just for you. You need to be happy.”
The train came to a stop at a station and the doors opened. As she stepped out she looked back at me and smiled again and said, “You need to be happy.” The doors closed and the train moved on.

I was schooled by a homeless Jamaican woman selling sad, droopy roses on the subway.

Why?

The Universe was telling me that she had more than me and she even had enough to spare: Happiness.

Well, Happiness and Wisdom.