I'm still pretty raw about this.
It was a week ago today that I lost my job. Being on the other side of seven days has allowed me to gain back some of my equilibrium: I'm not crying every 30 seconds, and the big bag of chocolate on my coffee table is still over half full. I had an interview this morning, and I have another early next week.
So...it's getting better.
And in the midst of all this sturm und drang, a very bright and wonderful spot. I found an unexpected letter in my mailbox today, with a postmark that I recognized; a friend who lives far away, a friend I've never met in person. When I opened the envelope, I found a money order for an amount that will buy me a good amount of groceries and a couple of tanks of gas.
I was moved to tears when I opened that envelope; such an unexpected gift, a drink of cool, fresh water in the desert, precious friendship in a time when I've been feeling even more alone than usual.
Sometimes, those unexpected gifts of love are the things that enable a struggling individual to carry on; that give someone in despair the ability to raise their head and look again at the road in front of them... and it might, in some cases, be the one thing that tethers a suffering person to their life, the one thing that says, "I'm here for you - don't give up."
This was a small act of kindness that came to me as a light in the darkness. I wrote my friend back, and I promised her that I would never forget this and, that I would pass it on.
We never know how a small act of kindness will be received, nor can we know the full effect a small random act of kindness may have on the one who receives it. Today, I was on the receiving end of one of those small acts of kindness...and it means more to me than I can say.
So, reader, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, and the day after that and the day after that - I urge you to create a small act of kindness. It needn't be expensive; it can be as simple as letting someone in front of you in traffic, holding a door open for the person following you, or putting a dime in a parking meter that's about to expire. Whatever it is, please, just do it, not only because it's the human thing to do, but because it will surely come back to you on that dark day when that small act of kindness will lift you out of despair and bring a smile back to your face.
Thank you, my friend, for that gift.
Love,
Maggie
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I just read this entry but it really resonated. When I am not wallowing in my own pity party, I really do try to do those little, kind, unrequested acts. (Isn't that what separates us from the animals, hmmm?) Last night at a restaurant, a young man leaving with his date dropped the parking ticket from the structure out back - you know the kind - LOST TICKET PAYS FULL DAILY RATE $24 - and kept on walking. I jumped up and picked it up and ran after him. Why not? I hope someone would do the same for me some day. What happens when we are all too self-absorbed to do things like that?
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