The Ripple of Kindness

Just as ripples spread out when a

single pebble is dropped into water,

the actions of individuals can have 

far-reaching effects.

Dalai Lama 

 

Courtesy of Pixabay, Sandid
 

 

Kindness counts. 

 

I was at a local thrift shop the other day as I am apt to do when they give a discount to celebrate those of my age. A young man approached me as I was leaving and asked if I was looking for my shopping cart.

 

What a strange question, I thought.

 

As I made my way to the front of the store, I heard one lady speaking to a rather frantic lady. 

Did you lose your cart? she asked.

Yes, the frazzled one said, as she looked around for it.

I took it to an employee because your purse was in the cart.

 

The frantic lady was relieved and thankful. The helpful lady laughed it away, and said that it's easy to forget when you're excited looking for a great find!

 

As easy as that. Kindness.

 

I'm sharing this story from the side streets of life to remind us all. Kindness exists. (Tweet This) I saw it, the almost-had-a-terrible-day lady saw it, the young man working there saw it. And now you can see it too.

 

Start the ripple. Give hope, give kindness.

Let's all be aware of what we can give, what we can receive graciously, and the stories we can share. (Tweet This)

Now tell me, when did you give, receive or witness an act of kindness? Please share your story, we could all use some good news right now.

 

Stay well, stay kind.

 

 

 

Heart Tread

 

The weather has been bitterly cold here as it has been in many other areas in Canada and the U.S. 

With the promise of sunny and more temperate numbers, I donned my running shoes and returned to my daily morning walk.

Fresh air, it's told, is good for our bodies and brains. Change your route they say, change direction in your usual loop, they suggest. All in the effort to keep our minds alert.

So how many steps did I walk this morning? That really isn't a measure I keep, with head down (watching for slippery spots), I more likely consider it a good walk based on what I see. And today I found this heart.

Surely just a tread from someone's running shoe. Trampled in the not-yet-cleared sidewalk, I had crossed the street within steps of home, and it was there!

It reminded me of an article I had read recently that asked this question of  readers: when was the last time you gave or received a hug from someone outside of your household? (Tweet This)

Shocking to me, most of the responses were not related to the current isolation we are all in.  And sadly, the answers spoke of a long-term lack of connection. The person who said that he hadn't given or received a hug for two years. And the break-my-heart answer which said that he/she could not remember when they were last embraced.

Okay now, I know what you might be thinking. We all know someone who has consistently done what they can to not be hugable. But the number of people who said that they missed being hugged, that they did not have anyone to hug, that they never learned how to hug. Oh my goodness.

The heart I saw goes out to them. (Tweet This)

A gentle reminder that hugs are everywhere, not only wrapped in your arms. (Tweet This)

Hugs can be found in the cup of coffee paid forward for the next customer, the late night text from your adult child, the shrieks of laughter of a child, even in the holding open of a door.

Sometimes it's found on a sidewalk when you least expect it.

Accepting and giving this hug to you.

Stay well, stay kind.

Mr Rogers Says It's a Beautiful Day

Mr. Rogers Says It's a Beautiful Day

If you haven't already seen It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, I'd encourage you to make your way to it. In a darkened theater with perhaps only six other people at the 1pm showing, we received the most wonderful treat we could imagine.

The incomparable Tom Hanks wearing the expected cardigan, takes you down a road of deep thought and enormous feeling for a journey of less than 2 hours. In about 109 minutes, this movie dug and discovered the importance of kindness that will stay with you even if you were not a fan of the show.

Spoiler: take your tissues.

I won't tell you the main story, but there was one line that stood out for me. Mr. Rogers tells us to think about "the people who loved us into being" (paraphrased). He reminds us that they did their best. He tells us we become who we are, because of and in-spite of them. 

If you pause and remember the moments of your life when you decided (and believe me, you did) on how to proceed, on how to behave, some of them were not given to you in kindness. They might have been handed out with screaming, or disdain, with repeated remorse or with little or no caring. We are fortunate if we received at least a few of those deciding moments that were given in love.

Our days continue and we cast our lives with what we believe to be true.

Although not everyone who helped form our past did it lovingly. We can still move on. They could have been with us for a long period or in our more recent days. They might have been entrusted to raise us, a music teacher who said we had talent or not, a neighbor or a boss.

We need to thank the ones who showed us what not to be. (Tweet this)

We need to file away how it felt when we hurt in order to not do it to others.

We need to take what everyone gave us and turn it into a gift.

Don't miss out on It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, it is a movie which will make you think. I dare say it could change your life. 

We all can change our neighborhood. Mr Rogers said so. (Tweet This)

Still or Scream?

A writer I know told me that she did her best writing after her parents died, they were in their nineties. She finally had the freedom to speak from her heart about the dysfunction that lived in the house that she had grown up in.

Still or Scream?  Courtesy Arno_M Pixabay

Someone else said that she found her husband in bed with a girl young enough to be his daughter. She, a seemingly contained person, walked into the closet they shared and cut up every one of his dress shirts. They became all short-sleeved. Then she went to the kitchen and made a list of what she’d take in the divorce.

Why is it that we need a catastrophe of some sort, in order for us to abandon our limits and to tell the truth? Our feelings belong only to us, we need to recognize that when they start rattling us that they are telling us something. They are trying to get our attention by making us uncomfortable. We don't need to wait for a disaster.

No one, not even those who know us the best can understand our deepest emotions. They have not lived each day in our skin. They have not hidden in corners with our tears or laughed with us in the darkness at what we consider the absurdity of life.

One of our biggest fears, unfortunately, is what would happen if we were to be “too honest”. If we actually told the ones who offend us how much they annoy us or that we see through their lies. Because we are for the most part governed by good manners and kindness even when we walk away in frustration. 

We don’t want to be the bad guy. We don’t want to be the one who is perceived as mean. Although through experience most of us know that sometimes being direct, by being brutally honest is the only way to save our selves.

The Thank you Wave

The Thank you Wave

You know the Thank you Wave, the one you get when you let someone into the traffic flow. Doesn’t it create a smile on your face? The Wave that says so many things.

 * Thanks for letting me in, I have to get to the daycare to pick up my child.

*  Thanks, I’ve had a rotten day and I really appreciate it!

*  Aww thanks, so many other people ignored my turn signal.

Just a simple Wave.

Freshly arrived from a big city into my new hometown, many decades ago, I found it remarkable how many people gave you the Wave. But now my town is a big city and you see the Wave less frequently. People are more rushed, people are more busy.

So, let’s start today wherever you are in the world.

Let’s start a trend together. The giver and the receiver. 

To pause on our way, acknowledge someone’s need, be courteous, then let them in! You might be surprised when you get the Wave. It’s just a simple Wave, but it’s so much more.

Do it today. Do it tomorrow. Do it even when you rather not! Giving and receiving as we continue our lives.

Kindness, a two-way street . We need more of it.

Then tell me where you’re waving from.

It’s just a simple Wave, but it’s so much more. (Tweet This)

How a simple act of kindness can start a trend, now. (Tweet This)