There’s really no such thing as too many fuzzy duckling photos, is there? On a fairly regular basis, I open my in-box to find surprise gifts. There are the jokes, the cartoons, the funny captions and bumper stickers. And plenty of baby animal photos.
Each one represents a friend who sincerely meant to send me a lift, improve my morning, make me smile. I think these can all be counted as acts of kindness, don’t you?
Of course I’m also forced to sift through the warnings my colleagues send me about found rat tails in fried-chicken containers. Then there are the chain letters promising a year of misfortune if you don’t forward them instantly to all your acquaintances, not to mention the stories claiming little Katie will be cured of cancer if only she gets enough postcards.
Sometimes my friends send me brief supportive notes in their own words: “How are you?” “Are you hanging in there?” “Just checking in!” “Want to have cocktails?” and so on. But I believe that even when all the email says is “What if the hokey pokey IS what it’s all about?”, or “Where are we going, and why am I in this handbasket?”, it’s still a moment of connection… of knowing you have allies out there who want to share a few moments of lightness and fun.
Speaking of happy faces and unexpected surprises, look who smiled back while I was making breakfast on Sunday morning…
They must have thought (erroneously so, as it turned out for them) that they were about to have an egg-cellent day.
50 Good Deeds 