Many of us have heard the saying “Practice random acts of kindness.” Today I saw a poster that stated true kindness is a lifestyle, not the occasional act. I believe that is true, and I know that no one knows how great their kindness may matter or how long its effect may last.
When I was miserable recently, a friend whom I had re-met through Facebook was very kind to me. I thought the exchange one-sided until she mentioned that she had come to our high school from another area and sat in home room with no one to talk to, until a girl sitting near her said hello and made her feel better. A million years ago, I was the girl who said hello.
Kindness begets kindness even more surely than hatred begets hatred. Would you like to share an act of kindness that moved you, or one that you did that mattered far more than you might have thought at the time? Please comment on this post or write me.
Whether you are celebrating a religious holiday in December, a cultural one like American Kwanzaa, or simply see one calendar year coming to an end and a new one beginning, happy holidays. Make every day count. We live each one but once.
I lost my dog Lily in December 2008 to cancer. When I was leaving the large, urban animal hospital with her collar and plenty of tears flowing, the woman who was volunteering her time to make natural wreaths and sell flowers to benefit the hospital gave me a rose bouquet on behalf of “your lovely dog” whom she had seen was there to die, not to come home with me but to go to her final Home.
I dried the bouquet and still have it. To help the lady and support the hospital, I bought one of the fruit wreaths. It is gone, but here is its photo. If kindness persists a long time, love lasts forever.
Elizabeth Coolidge-Stolz, MD/ (c) Healing Woman