She didn’t know what it would do
Most of her life she had been this way
Inching her way through one heart or another
Lifting others with just a glance
Even as her own smile dimmed with time
Sometimes the people who are smiling and giving hope to others are losing it bit by bit as nothing is returned.
(Sometimes because they’ve forgotten that giving can be receiving in its own way…)
Written to sort of lighten my mindset for the day and also for today’s offering for NaPoWriMo (http://www.napowrimo.net/2014/04/one-week-in/). I was going to use what I’d written earlier, but it didn’t feel right.
This helped me to smile again.
I was reading through various news websites looking for something to spark my interest today when I came across several stories of people, or animals, doing acts of kindness. I thought I would share a few. I’m not able to share them all, but looking up so many videos and articles about kindness can do nothing but help to bolster my faith in humanity.
The first to catch my attention was about a young woman trying to raise awareness of a chronic illness. When a person with this specific illness stands up, their heart rate goes way up while their blood pressure drops dangerously. It isn’t an illness that shows much, if any, physical signs until they’re on the ground. It’s called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, or POTS. It is incurable. The young woman in question was doing a photo shoot of a re-enactment from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and was invited inside by the store owner of Tiffany & Co. at the City Creek Mall in Salt Lake City, Utah. She has the illness in question, but her family didn’t now until about 4 years ago. She and her family are also donating a tree to the Annual Festival of Trees where people can buy an already furnished tree, sometimes done up in themes, and the proceeds will be donated to charity.
The people donating the trees are getting nothing from it. The young woman and her family are decorating their tree in the theme of the old movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”
Another article that caught my eye was about a retired military dog meeting his very first kitten and how fascinated he is with the white fur-ball. The clip included in the the quick blurb was heartwarming but it also led to several other videos.
One of a cat who had lost her litter of kittens pretty much taking over for a new litter of cocker spaniels whose mother wasn’t the maternal type (at all.)
There were other videos that touched my heart, mostly one that had snapshots with some explanations of people who had performed random acts of kindness during different heard times for people. There was also a video about a young man buying different things for the homeless and then giving them away to people he found living on the street while dressed up as Iron Man. I think the words he added at the end of his clip touched me the most.
“Even though we are human,
There is a superhero inside all of us.
All you need is a helping hand.
So if you have a chance to be a hero,
Take it.
It can only make the world a happier place.
And please…
Always remember to smile.”
I’ve had someone help my family randomly at the grocery store when we were just a few dollars short on paying for our groceries and having a neighbor several years later that always plowed our rather long driveway every time it snowed that year. And it snowed so much that you couldn’t see anything a yard away from the windows. The world is full of many things, but one of them is kindness in our fellow man and the animals that help bring us peace.
It only takes a moment to change someone’s life for the better, even, no especially, if it’s only in a small way.
Video and news article links:
Military dog: http://now.msn.com/retired-military-dog-chef-meets-first-kitten-in-viral-video
cat with puppies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6BmU49XG7w
Snapshots of kindness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uge8sMTrzx0
Breathing In 