I was on a kindness drought.
I wasn’t being a jackass or anything, but I was actually being nice to the people closest to me. I realized with all the random acts of kindness that I was spreading to complete strangers I thought I could spread some of that at home to family, friends and acquaintances. I began doing little niceties for some of my peeps. But I guess you wouldn’t necessarily count them on the 40 Before 40 List, as the point of the list is to spread a little kindness to people you don’t know.
So I got back on the saddle and decided it was time to continue to the countdown to the Big 4-0. I realized as Memorial Day Weekend was coming up it would be nice to do what I do best for some of our troops overseas. I took out my Mead Notebook and Bic Pen and began writing a letter of gratitude for one of the troops overseas.
I remember writing letters to my friends when they graduated high school. One decided to join the Navy, the other the Army. They mentioned how great it was to get one of my letters when the mail would arrive. It was exciting to be able to hear from someone. Back then there was no email or Internet, or Facetime. It was phone calls and letters. They seemed to enjoy my take on life and the description of how I was surviving college life and my dysfunctional family.
Years later when I ran into them, once they’d finished their tours they told me that they still had my letters in a shoebox some where. Both of them. They mentioned how much it meant to hear my voice, because apparently they could hear it through my written words. I have that gift, I guess.
So I thought I would spread my kindness overseas and see if I could make someone laugh, and give someone a little peace.
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🙂
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I wrote about what I was doing that morning and what I was looking forward to that afternoon. I talked about being a parent and realizing that as my kids grow up, I’ve learned to practice more gratitude. I told a brief story of my little family and how we love to watch underdog movies, and I thanked them for their service.
I had sent the letter and felt really good about what I had done. I smiled at my anecdotes and at my son’s drawing, which he insisted accompany the letter. That in itself is an awesome prize. And then I thought I was finished.
I thought.
Until I went out for my morning run the next day, you know trying to start my Hour of Power and pump myself up for the day. I was running down the street and then there it was … stomped and missed by the street cleaning machine. I found some money laying on the street. I looked around, but apparently no one was there. Cars were on the other side and the money was just hanging out destined to be found by The Guat that morning.
Finding money is always awesome, especially when it’s not even the money that you’ve misplaced in a jacket or pair of pants that got washed. It was just money that fell out from some galaxy far, far away.
But instead of buying myself some amazing dinner, or lunch, or boxes and boxes of Hawaiian chocolate, I decided to continue my 40 before 40 quest. I decided to keep spreading some kindness.
I bought a care package for some troops.
Hoping that the treats, goodies, and books brings some smiles to a well-deserved man or woman overseas.
Hoping they feel the appreciation of The Guat, because everybody needs to feel appreciated at least once in their life. And I felt pretty good knowing that I’d be giving that to somebody, even if they didn’t know who I was, it felt good.
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The Wish Factor 