Listen
I sit by the lamplight at my desk. My laptop is open and my kitten, Bridget, has surveyed the area and is now sitting on my (our) bed bathing her stuffy. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and the recent bite to the Chicago air has blown havoc around not just myself, but the community at large. The news just reported a deadly seven-car crash in Chicago, and continuing coverage of the mass shooting of ClubQ in Colorado slices through the heart.
So much to think about this Thanksgiving. I look at a little tile plaque on my desk, a gift from my mom. It says: “Radiate Kindness.” I think of the things I cannot do to help others or the things I cannot do to force my own recovery. So on the eve of what will be a difficult holiday for many, I look to my plaque:
Radiate Kindness. So, for my Thanksgiving blog, here’s a little something different. A short list that I will try to follow and if you can, give it a try as well.
Listen more than I talk. Okay, enough comments from the peanut gallery. I can make an “E” sound. Eventually I’ll put it together with another sound. Listen more.
Don’t say every thought that comes to mind. Be right. Fine, but listen more.
Remember to smile. It’s okay to hurt. But it’s okay to smile at someone, too. It won’t diminish my pain to offer that up.
Excuse a mistake and accept an apology. That mixed up order at dinner isn’t going to kill me unless it contains shellfish. I guess I’m saying be kind and clear to your servers on your needs. Correct the mistake. Offer a smile. And listen to the other person’s face. Listen to what they aren’t saying.
Don’t give yourself or your talents away for free, but give what I can freely and with kindness. What does someone need today? Listen more.
Remember, kindness is to be found in the unlikeliest of places. The unlikeliest of people. Accept kindness from others. Listen more.
We all have a story. We all have something to deal with in our lives. Let’s take a second to radiate kindness by listening more. Especially to someone who needs to be heard. I’ll always remember a woman at a homeless shelter I helped out at a few years back. She had her belongings in a trash bag, and she came up to me and said, “Honey, have you seen a neuro-ophthalmologist for your eye?” This was before I had surgeries. I asked her how she knew. She told me she used to be a nurse and was the first one to say “Thyroid Eye Disease,” even before the specialists I saw. I stood with my walker and listened to her advice; some of which I took and some of which I didn’t, but for that moment, we were both in need of someone to hear us. To see us. To help us. We need each other. Radiate kindness.
See someone this Thanksgiving. Listen to them and be well. Happy Thanksgiving, friends.
