The Monday Sweet Spot – 11/16/2015

We’ve all hit that point during a smoke, usually about half way through, in which the cigar’s flavors and aromas open up and transform the experience into something far more rich, complex, and enjoyable.

In this moment, gentlemen, you’ve hit the “sweet spot”.

A moment that encourages you to open your senses, and to truly appreciate the experience that the smoke has ushered you into.

In the same way, it’s important to take time in our lives to slow down, and open our senses to the world around us. To take notice of the good things going on and the good people doing them.

These are life’s “sweet spots”, and your Monday could use one…


Dreams Really Do Come True

For students Taylor Zisholtz and Lucy Smith-Williams, Kathryn Thompson is just one of those people. The cafeteria worker at Elon University seems to spread warmth and joy wherever she goes.

“In a world where everybody is so cold, they keep their wishes and their feelings all to themselves. With Kathryn it was just an open door, she welcomes everyone, in and she works so hard,” Taylor says.

One day, Taylor and Lucy were eating at the Acorn Coffee Shop where Kathryn works. It was a slow night and Kathryn began to chat them up, when she learned Lucy was from Florida, her face lit up.

“How long does it take to drive from here to Florida?” Kathryn asked. “And how much do you think that it would cost for me to take my family of five to Disney World?” Then she began to cry.

“I just want that so badly,” she confessed. “I have never been anywhere but here.” Taylor and Lucy knew they had to make Kathryn’s dream come true.

In just a few weeks, the school raised almost $7,000 to send Kathryn and four of her family members to Disney World. Surprises are all the more satisfying when we earn them, like when this hard working single mother was surprised with a new kitchen.

“She’s been here for a long time,” said Glenn Austin, Acorn’s assistant location manager. “She’s dependable. She hardly ever calls off and is a stable employee for the night shift. I think it’s a wonderful surprise.”

Kathryn has worked at the university for over 10 years. Watch Kathryn’s touching reaction — and get the tissues out — in the video below.

This article was originally posted on littlethings.com.

Brandon Reed