As healthcare providers, we choose to devote our lives to caregiving. This trend continues for many of us after we retire from our careers as nurses, doctors, first responders, and therapists in every field. Many of my former colleagues continue to work in food banks and soup kitchens, to teach, and to volunteer to help those in need.
I do not. The pandemic forced me into isolation, and I discovered that I rather enjoyed it. It afforded me uninterrupted time for reading, writing, walking, and meditation. For silence. For reflection. I prefer to call it solitude...and I have continued to cultivate it in my life.
Still, I do help out here and there. With family and friends, their dogs, and especially the grandchildren. The goal is to make life just a little easier for them whenever I can. This week it involved a trip to Pittsburgh to deep clean a house for my son as he prepares to move in...a task he did not have the time for. Luckily, a friend offered to help me, someone who (for reasons I do not comprehend) actually likes to clean! And clean, we did...even though we all know that:
😉
But this is the thing. We were rewarded with his deep and sincere gratitude. His mood shifted. A burden lifted. It marked a new start for him. It was a joy to see.
And it also worked for me.
The gloom that blankets the world because of the steadily deteriorating state of the news, day after day witnessing cruelty, dishonesty, greed, and now war...also lifted for me. I felt a quiet sense of joy. Of accomplishment. Of connection.
Of course, we all extend kindness to others. We help out when and where we can. We don't always expect or enjoy an outpouring of appreciation or any compensation. We do it out of the generosity of our hearts whether or not we are thanked or even acknowledged for it. Still, our intentions, our efforts, and the sacrifices we make are rewarded when what we do brings relief, gratitude, and even a faint ray of optimism to someone else. When their spirits lift. When they can relax and breathe a sigh of relief. When they can smile again...which is what we all need right now.
"No act of kindness,
no matter how small,
is ever wasted."
~Aesop~
If things are getting you down right now--your finances are suffering, you're in poor health, a relationship has gone sour, you've experienced a major loss, you feel frustrated by the state of the planet and its people, war scares you...whatever--remember there is hope. If you want to feel better, extend a small act of kindness.
"The world is full of kind people.
If you can't find one, be one."
~attribution unknown~
If you can't muster the strength or motivation to reach out and you need help yourself, do as Mr. Rogers suggests:
"Look for the helpers.
You will always find people
who are helping."
~Mr. Rogers~
jan
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