So, today was
the last day I was going to write a short piece about kindness for the
week. I had set a goal – one piece per
day – and this was to be IT.
But the day
is practically over, and I had not been inspired. When I thought about it, I panicked a
little. I didn’t want to “fail” at this
easy goal. But if there was no kindness
to write about that happened today, then no kindness story, right??
Then I
realized something: how my partner David
and I treat one another is KIND.
I think of it
as just “us” – I mean – it is just the way we are, the way we interact. We have been together for 29 years, it is
just “how we do”. I don’t think either
of us consciously does kind acts for the other, they just sort of happen.
Here are the
examples I thought of today: last night
I set my alarm super early. I am NOT a
morning person, but I always love it when I can get to the beach and watch
sunrise. I love it, I just don’t DO IT, because I hate waking up so
early. But last night I decided, today was the day, I would wake up and walk to the beach to watch the glorious sunrise.
Then this
morning the alarm went off…
And all of
the sudden, the whole idea of watching the sunrise didn’t seem that great. It seemed downright silly, really. And the pull of the toasty bed was very
strong. So strong, in fact, that after I
turned off the dumb alarm I crawled right back into bed and announced I would
watch sunrise “another day”.
David doesn’t
enjoy mornings, either. And he isn’t
even all that into sunrises (crazy, no???).
But he knows I LOVE THEM. So, do
you know what he did?? Even though it
was MY plan, and I don’t even think he was originally planning to get up and go
to the beach this morning, he crawled out of bed and said, “Let’s go watch the
sun rise today”.
He was kind.
That was all
I needed – the little nudge to get my lazy bones out of bed, throw on some
clothes, and walk to the beach. He went
with me, and it was as lovely as I expected.
(Not to mention we just crawled right back into bed after we came home.)
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| Why don't I get up early EVERY MORNING to watch this? |
Then, this
evening, it came time for him to do something HE enjoys – trimming the trees
and bushes. This is a chore he really
likes. The limbs and brush are picked up
every Tuesday and David always wants to have a nice neat pile out there waiting
to be collected. But he hadn’t done any
trimming this week and we are planning to be out most of the day tomorrow, so
really, this evening was his last chance for the week. So out he went – chop, chop, chop.
We had just
come back from the beach and showered. I
was nice and clean. I had on clean
clothes. Honestly, the last thing I wanted
to do was start hauling branches around to the front of the house to make the
pile. But I did it, without being
asked. I was kind. And I know David appreciated it. He isn’t the type of person to ask for help,
but that “division of duties” – him trim and me lug – works well for yard work,
and I was glad to pitch in.
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| David taking out an old, dead bush. He loves that stuff! |
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| January morning - David, in his jammies, watering Trixie (our fruit cocktail tree!) |
So there. Thinking about those 2 things reminded me
that kindness doesn’t even have to be a deliberate act. Kindness can just be something that is sort
of “built into” your actions, your relationships, your communication.
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| Sunrise selfie |
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| The colors of sunrise amaze and delight me |
So sweet
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