Last week my heart was broken; my wonderful cocker spaniel Grigio had to be euthanized. He was a 14-year-old goofy dog who zig zagged through life having fun, being silly and making lots of friends. He especially loved children since he had his own boy, and he wagged his tail at everything.
His death sucked all the life out of me, leaving me overwhelmingly sad. Right before he died, I made a quick run to my local grocery to buy meat, something I hadn’t done for over 25 years as a vegetarian. I wanted to give him the best last meals I could. I was in a daze, sad and unfocused. A clerk asked how my day was going and I could barely mutter “OK.” He then said something like, he had gone through a lot of negativity recently and decided every day was going to be great and he wished me a wonderful day. Those weren’t his exact words but that was the essence of his message.
His wages weren’t affected by whether he chose to be kind or not, he just did. And for a brief moment he changed how I felt.
I mention this as a reminder we have no idea the sadness or grief others are going through, instead they put on their corporate faces and go out into the world to do what they need to do. Yet doing the simplest thing, smiling at the person who is scowling (which was me in that store) or saying hello to someone who looks unapproachable, could have an impact you’ll never know. You probably won’t see reactions to your kindness, but what you say or do may fire up hope, positivity or just lessens the pain others are going through.
Today, I challenge you to offer the smallest of kindnesses to those who may need it, especially those who seem unapproachable. The 14th Dalai Lama reminded us “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.”
