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| image by worldkarmaproject.org via googleimages |
It wasn’t April 15th or December 26th
or any other nationally recognized sad day, at least as far as I could tell. The
New England sun shone down with its trademark smile and the crisp cool air
played with the new shades of blue. I watched the Fall leaves twirl and spin as
the cars ahead of me blew them up and into the air.
“Look at
the leaves,” I said to my daughter, “they’re dancing!”
And
together we laughed. Together we sang. Together we drove home from school with
a fresh kind of happy in our hearts.
And then, as if finding an unexpected letter in the mail, we
cocked our heads with a curious feeling.
“What was
that? Who’s honking?” she said to me.
I turned
down the music to try to see.
It was the car
in front of me.
“Someone is
unhappy. Someone is impatient. Someone isn’t being as kind, as kind as we wish
they would be.”
We turned with the honker (and the honkee) still curious and
wondering, wondering what’s and why’s and how we might help. Yes help, my little
girl and me.
He was following her very closely, his red van hovering
behind her like an angry bee. She didn’t speed up. She didn’t slow down. She
just kept a steady pace, a law-abiding pace, and he didn’t leave her alone. He
just kept honking, yelling, screaming at her with the power of his angry horn.
When finally, he turned away.
We breathed
a sigh of relief.
A few minutes later, we
came to a stop light. With more than one lane. So I pulled up beside the honkee and
rolled down my window.
“Excuse
me!” I sang out, my hand waving, trying to get her
attention. “Excuse me!”
“Yes?” she
said in return, as she rolled down her window, her face gentle, her eyes seemingly afraid.
“Why was
that man so angry and honking at you so meanly?” I said. “I want you to know
that I saw how awful he was to you and that you had a stranger not far behind,
rooting for you and caring about you!”
And her
face? It softened even more. And her eyes? They looked as if they might burst
into tears. “I think he was mad that I didn’t turn fast enough, but really, I’m
not sure.”
“Well,
don’t you dare worry!" I said to her with love. "He was just having a bad day. An unkind day. And you just
happened to be the one who got in his way. I’m so sorry.”
“Why thank you,” she
said through her smiles, “thank you so much for caring. You made my day.”
But it was kindness. Kindness that made both of our days.
* * *
I read a recent article that said that marriages only succeed
when one crucial piece is ever-present—kindness. So if a marriage, for many of
us, the closest heart connection of all, is only able to succeed on a steady diet of
kindness, wouldn’t that also hold true for every other relationship in our
lives? What then, would the world look like, how would it change, if we let
kindness be our mantra, if we let kindness be our speak, if we let kindness
guide our days and direct our every step?
How would your day change if you led with kindness for
yourself?
How would your day change if you led with kindness for everyone
around you?
How would your heart change?
How would the world change … if kindness was more important
than any other bottom line?
Let’s imagine. Let’s imagine and then try it on to see…
3 comments:
As always, you capture a snapshot of life and turn into a lovely lesson... At the grocery store, I frequently let people 'in a hurry' go ahead of me, sometimes prompting a heartfelt thanks, sometimes a whiff of entitlement. But it always feels like the right think to do on my end... I'll try to remember to lead with kindness all day.
Reading you I find myself smiling...and nodding...your words reconfirming that it is the kindest souls who work still harder to be even more kind than they already are. Miss you. Hope to hug you soon, TM:)
What a gift your words are. Thank you so much for visiting and for sharing yourSelf. You brought me unexpected smiles, new friend. Hugs:)
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