Kindness

I believe that it is important to volunteer to support what you value so that it will continue to be available. But the time I spend volunteering to do various things is not a totally selfless act. In fact, I get a lot out of it. It feels wonderful to support someone else's dream. It is energizing to see the expressions on people's faces when you offer them something free or at a very reduced price. It is sort of like giving a gift to a stranger.It helps me rise above the funk that difficult days can put me in. It is my hope that by doing such small acts of kindness as putting pushing a heavy cart of grocery's to a person's car and loading them into the trunk (with the hopes that someone on the other end will help unload and carry them into the person's house (something I did many times last week)) will help another person focus more on the gift of an unexpected kindness than the current political state, the ills of the world, or even how they don't feel totally up to par. Sometimes this is hard, especially when the end of a school year comes. Everyone is tired and stressed - so ready to be done. It is then that it is important to remember to be kind, even when parts of myself want to take part in the crank-fest.

Sometimes my kids don't understand this. They grow impatient when they want to go home and have to stay at event for a long time. Other times I see that they have internalized this code of behavior. I see it when my kids shovel the walks of the many elderly people who live on our block. Those folks simply awake to find it done, not even knowing, I suppose, that my kids were looking out for them. I see it in my son's face when he helps someone out, adding a finishing touch with a hand shake and an honest look of respect at the person. I see it in my daughter who uses her uncanny ability to help two fighting people find resolution or help people who think they have nothing in common find a way to interact with joy.

I just know that when my end comes, I hope that I will be remembered and measured not by the material goods or accomplishments as a result of my life, but by the quality of people my children are, but the goodwill I have spread and by the joy or sense of self value I have helped impart in others.