Have you ever made a really tough decision that took you off-course in a positive direction?

I’d read about a homeless man named Billy Ray Harris in Missouri who returned an engagement ring that had accidentally been dropped into his donation jar. Harris had been offered $4,000 for the ring by a jeweler, and admitted to considering it pretty hard. In the end, he gave the ring back to its rightful owner.
The ring’s owner was so touched that she told her friends, who were inspired and wanted to give to him. A fund was set up for Mr. Harris with the hopes of earning the $4,000 he would have made from the jeweler.
Today, the fund sits with more than $183,000 in it. But that’s not all.
 
Mr. Harris now has a home. A part-time job. And, most importantly, he’s been re-connected with his long-lost family, who had not seen him for 16 years and feared he had died. The TODAY show surprised him by flying his three siblings to see him.
“This is a big payoff,” he said on the TODAY Show. “I got it all right here now.”
 
 
So what can we learn from Billy Ray Harris’s good choice?
 
 To me, there are three lessons learned.

1) A good choice may bring many unintended consequences.

2) The people who donate money also benefit by the very act of giving.

 3) A monetary reward is wonderful, but reuniting with lost family is life-changing.

If watching the news has you convinced the world is going to hell in a hand-basket, then stories like Billy Ray Harris’s is a good one to reflect on. 
 
Happy Easter.
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