The Norm...Not the exception.

On Saturday, I went to my local pharmacy to pick up a prescription. At the pharmacy front desk, the young man checked me out and much to my dismay stated, "Ma'am that will be $68.00."

This is a medication that I take monthly and my previous prescription was only $9.00...a big difference in price. I picked my chin up off the floor and told him that I might need to contact my doctor because that was just too much to pay each month. He understood and proceeded to put the bag back up. Well...in the background, the pharmacist heard our discussion and came out to talk to me. He asked me about my insurance and tried to look up a way to reduce the amount by going generic. He didn't succeed and so I told him I'd just get with my doctor on Monday.

Later that afternoon, I received a voicemail. The pharmacist called me saying he had found a benefit program for my medication and all I had to do was fill out a form online, and I'd receive my medication for $5.00 a month for the next year. He left me the website address and everything. On Sunday, he called me again to make sure I had gotten his message and to see if I needed any assistance with the benefit program.

I went later that afternoon and picked up my new prescription for just $5.00.

It got me thinking. He didn't have to do all that research to find me a discount. He doesn't make any money off of the prescription that I buy. He could have just let me pay the $68.00 or find a new medication. He could have just stayed quiet back there and proceeded with his business.

But instead of letting it go, he went the extra mile. He went above and beyond.

It seems to me, these days, we are just getting by, by doing what we can for ourselves. We don't really think about going that extra mile or blessing someone else. Why is it that that kind of service towards one another is not the rule, but the exception? Shouldn't it be the other way around?

So my goal for this week...and hopefully you will join me...is to go above and beyond what is expected of me. To give someone an unexpected blessing. To let someone else know that their situation is important to me. I need to stop being so focused on my needs and my wants...but rather "how can I bless someone today?"

Let's work to make that the norm...not the exception.