If anyone reading this knows me personally, you will know that last weekend was a pretty rough one for me and my family. We had to put our sweet Yorkie Tobie down last Friday. He lived a good long life of 14 years and it was just his time, but of course no matter how prepared you are for these things it is never easy. I was thankful that I had last week’s post more than half written already so I was still able to post something. My experiences during that in a way really inspired this week’s post as well. Not the sadness or pain from it, but the small acts of kindness I saw around me because of it. So, I figured why not take the pain we were and still are feeling and put a positive spin on things as I always try to do with this page.

I want to start out by giving my friend Nicole a special shout out.  It just happened that she gave birth to her beautiful baby boy on the same day that we had to put Tobie down. I didn’t want to tell her and take away from that, but she knows me well enough to know something was wrong. She went out of her way, while still in the hospital mind you, to make me smile and I am so appreciative of that. Such a small gesture can go so far when you genuinely need the smile, and that is exactly what I am talking about with my post here. Small acts of kindness can go so far, especially if the person is genuinely struggling with something. If you see a friend in need of a hug, give it to them!

Words can lighten a load a friend or loved one is carrying as well. I know I have used this quote before, but in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling, Albus Dumbledore says "Words are, in my not so humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic, capable of both inflicting injury and remedying it." This is so incredibly true in my opinion, and for the record Dumbledore has all the wise, relatable quotes in the series! On Monday at work I was on the phone with a client and I talked her through finding a form I emailed her. Once all was said and done, she emailed me back saying that my boss is very fortunate to have me as an assistant. I had a rough morning emotionally so that really put a smile on my face. She genuinely has no idea just how much that meant to me on that particular day. Choosing kindness, even when it is not necessarily required, is never going to be a bad decision to make.

So, what is my point in all of this? I just want it to be known how far small acts of kindness truly can help some people. You never know just what demons or struggles someone is dealing with on a daily basis. I know this topic has been done before on this page, but I genuinely just felt the need to talk about it again today and remind everyone to stay kind to one another. If you live in the United States you know that we have an election in a few days. With that comes an entire avalanche of negativity (in my opinion) as everyone has their own views and many times friends and family may disagree. There is no need to be hateful because of this. Just agree to disagree and move on. Spread joy and kindness instead of negativity and hate.

I am going to end this post a little differently than normal. Usually I sum things up and summarize my thoughts here, but instead I would like to offer some kindness and maybe a little guidance as well. It is no secret that this year has been a struggle for pretty much all of us. I cannot think of one person that has not had at least one thing happen to them that negatively affected them. It helps to stay busy and to distract yourself from the pain as you grieve. I wrote this post a lot earlier in the week than normal because I have found that writing is a nice distraction to me. Last weekend I made and canned homemade apple butter, made some homemade bread, and painted pumpkins for the kiddos in my life. All of these were things I enjoy doing and they helped keep my mind distracted and on happier things. You need to deal with grief instead of always pushing it aside for distractions, but temporarily ignoring the pain is okay too as long as you do deal with it in a healthy way. We are all in this thing called life together, so let’s remember to always be kind, especially when the ones we love need us the most.