How long does it take to be kind? Not nearly as long as the effect of the kindness will last.
Think about it. If I open the door for someone and smile at them, how much time did that take from my day? Two seconds? What is the value of a positive human connection, even if it only lasts a couple of seconds? For me, it’s a warm feeling in my heart, whichever side of the door I’m on.
Donating money to a good cause takes ten minutes or less to either address an envelope or send an electronic payment. The impact of the kindness will last much longer than that.
On Sunday night, my husband went downstairs into the garage to feed our formerly feral cats and lock the cat door for the night. He quickly yelled up and said, “Come here, we seem to have two black cats now!”
Sure enough, an extra black cat had found his way into our garage via the cat door. While no one was fighting, things were a bit tense among the residents, having a stranger in their space.
It was raining, but we escorted the visitor outside and brought him around to our back deck to examine him better and check his collar for ID. No tag unfortunately but he seemed healthy. He was just as starved for affection as he was for food. We gave him plenty of both.
We have an outdoor heated cat condo that our cat colony used before they were upgraded to our garage. He spent the night in there and the next morning, we took him to the vet hoping for a microchip containing owner identification. No such luck. Meanwhile it began snowing. This cat sure picked a great night to be rescued.
As of this writing, I have posted online everywhere I can think of and I’m hoping his owner will turn up. I’ll give it a few days but if no one comes forward, I already have permission to foster him for Nashville Cat Rescue. He’s so affectionate, and I’m sure he will make someone very happy.
I might be inconvenienced for a week or so dealing with this unexpected kitty, but if I return him to his owner, or help him find a new home, multiple lives will be impacted for the better, possibly for the rest of their lives. That’s worth a little inconvenience to me.
Helping cats is my thing, but there are so many ways to add kindness, beauty and other flavors of positivity to the world. November 13 was World Kindness Day, but we don't have to stop the celebration.
Today, look for an opportunity to invest two seconds (or ten minutes) to do something nice and spread some positivity. I am sure it will come back to you tenfold.
Lastly, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving filling your bellies with good food, but more importantly, finding the gift—considering the reasons to have full hearts.
‘Tis the season for gratitude and kindness. Share abundantly and everyone wins.
PS On social media, I offered a BIG Cyber Monday sale on my paintings and commissions. Rather than be one of the hundreds of people who emailed you yesterday, I saved the special offer to go along with today’s regular email. See below!
