Do you like the cover photo of my dirty swiffer mop anchored by the snow? I sure do not, because the photo shows that my mop is dirty!

“No matter how filthy something gets, you can always clean it right up.” – God, portrayed by Morgan Freeman in the movie ‘Bruce Almighty’

The weather forecast called for a snowstorm of “epic proportions” in the Mid-Atlantic region over a late January weekend. State authorities implored citizens to stay home for at least three days. Upper-level management at the office encouraged us to work from home.

What did Noy Sauce do over the weekend? I stayed home, watching YouTube videos of Beavis and Butt-head, and the Maury Povich show. In addition to quenching my thirst for ratchet comedy, I cooked plenty of dishes to hone my skills so that I can call myself “Chef Noy-ardee.”

Two days of cabin fever beckoned me to clean my car after our area was covered in 24” of snow. Last week before the snow storm came, I figured that I do not need to purchase a shovel, because our apartment complex normally gets plowed the day after a snow storm. But for some odd reason, only half of the apartment complex was plowed, while the other half, where my apartment building is located at, was not plowed.

I saw a few neighbors shoveling snow outside, but I was hesitant to ask for help. Instead, I went on a joy walk around the neighborhood for an hour, taking numerous selfies and sliding my feet on the slush. I fell backwards on a couple of snowpatches for fun, making Jesus-like imprints that I call, “Selfie prints on the Snow”.

When I returned from my joy walk, I saw a neighbor trying to move her car to an adjacent parking spot. I decided to help her out by pushing her car, along with another neighbor. After she moved her car, we walked to the nearby supermarket, hoping to buy a couple of shovels. As expected, the supermarket was out of shovels, but we stocked up on a few groceries before returning home. I learned over our trip to the supermarket that my neighbor lives in the same floor as me, and we have similar life experiences living independently on our own. When we returned from our trip to the supermarket, we saw more neighbors shoveling and helping each other out. A neighbor who lives one floor below me decided to walk to the supermarket after hearing from us that the roads are clear. She was kind enough to lend me her shovel, as three feet of snow was still blocking my car. An hour and a half into my shoveling, I cleared most of the snow behind my car and decided to take a break. During my break, I saw three neighbors pushing another neighbor’s car as he was trying to get out of our area of the apartment complex. I figured that I should help them out, now that I have a shovel. After twenty minutes of ice picking and snow shoveling, my neighbor was able to drive out of the complex. Another neighbor who helped also managed to get out.

After my two neighbors drove out of the apartment complex, I continued shoveling the snow around my car. Thirty minutes into my resumed snow shoveling session, the first neighbor who drove out of the apartment complex returned the favor by helping me out. Following another twenty minutes of ice picking and snow shoveling, I drove my car out of the apartment complex and parked a couple of blocks away.

As I made my way down the hill after parking my car, I saw a man helping a driver get out of the apartment complex. I helped the man try to push the car up the hill, to no avail. Two more neighbors who saw us came and helped us out. After pushing his car, the driver only made it halfway up the hill as his tires were unable to gain traction. The four of us who pushed his car walked up the hill, and told him to back up a bit so that his car can gather additional momentum. After another push, the driver made it up the hill and gave us a thank you and big facebook-esque thumbs up as he drove away.

When I returned to my apartment building, I saw my neighbors helping the lady who lent me her shovel get her car out of the parking lot. Exhausted from three hours outside pushing cars and shoveling snow, I persisted and helped out. Following ten minutes of ice picking and snow shoveling along with my neighbors, the lady also drove out of the apartment complex to park her car a couple blocks away. My neighbor who had helped me get my car out of the snow also helped another neighbor and his child get his pick-up truck out of his spot. After another thirty minutes of ice picking and snow shoveling, our neighbor drove his truck out of our apartment complex area.

Following my afternoon of pushing cars and shoveling snow, I returned the shovel that I used to the lady who lives one floor below me, only to receive a big “thank you” from her. I learned that my neighbor who had helped me move my car also lives in the same floor as me. Once I returned to my apartment, I felt a sense of accomplishment that went beyond going to work (or working from home, for that matter) to earn a living. This accomplished feeling reminded me of my day’s experience of service from a month ago, where helping other people is not about you, but about what you can do for others.

My afternoon spent outside helping my neighbors “earned me a living” that provided purpose, which went beyond striving to be a better person every day.

Instead of carrying a mindset of scarcity, where one thinks solely of oneself and what they can get out of others, I found that carrying a mindset of abundance, where one thinks of helping others without expectation, leads to a wholesome life that is truly earned.

Do I still get annoyed at people who solely think about themselves, and what they can get out of others? You bet I do! I sometimes think of hitting those people upside the head with a shovel to make my point clear.

But to truly make a lasting, positive impact, and to encourage change in others, it starts with you to be that example (or in this story, it starts with me).

My day getting to know my neighbors offered a glimpse of life perspectives I had not considered towards the area that I live in. We all do what we can to be better versions of ourselves each day, but taking positive initiatives towards making lasting, positive impacts are what separate some people from the rest. I made some new friends, earned some street credit amongst my homeboy and homegirl neighbors, and above all, made an impact in the community.

Now isn’t that a life worth living?