Good afternoon and welcome to another Thursday thought.
The wife thought I had gotten a touch of a flu bug, even
though I had gotten a flu shot earlier in the fall. I slept most of the day Monday and also
during that night. Tuesday, I contacted
my provider and asked if she would order an anti-viral. She did and I started taking it. Today, Thursday, I’m much better and feel
almost back to normal.
My time in flu purgatory was relatively brief, and I seem to
be recovering nicely. For that I am
thankful because for older folks, these kinds of things can turn into more serious
situations rather easily. Also, I’m not
a very good patient as my wife will attest.
I don’t like to have to stay inside all the time and not go
anywhere. I do my share of moaning and
groaning if the circumstances allow. I
think sometimes she’s doing well to be in the same house with me.
I have a couple of takeaways from that recent experience
that I’d like to share with you today.
First, I’m not sure what I’d do if I had no one to help me through my
illness. Pat did a great job keeping up
the house and doing what needed to be done.
Jackie at GraceMed provided the anti-viral authorization based on my
phone call and past experience with her as my medical provider. My pharmacist didn’t have the medication on
hand, but transferred the prescription to a place that did so Pat could pick it
up that day and I could start the regimen.
Eric at work handled some things there that I should have been doing
those days. And I’m sure there were
others who helped in some way or another…people I don’t know about. I’m grateful for them all.
Second, on Tuesday I needed to just step out of the house
for some air. I wasn’t feeling well, but
needed to get out, even if for just a few moments. I stepped out on our back deck into the sun
and breeze. In the park just behind our
house there was an older gentleman and a young girl walking on the path. He appeared to be well into his sixties, and
she no more than four or five years old.
My presumption was this was a grand father and his grand daughter going
for a walk in the park. We see that kind
of thing quite often here. Families of
various kinds and makeups enjoying the outdoors in the park. Nothing unusual about that.
However, as they were going along, suddenly the girl
released her hand from his and started skipping down the path…as far as I could
tell, there was no particular reason for her to do that…she just felt like
skipping for a time. Grand dad followed
along and increased his walking gait a bit in order not to get too far behind. She eventually began walking again and they
got together again.
Again, nothing out of the ordinary here, except I was struck
by the girl’s skipping. She seemed to just
be happy to be in the park with her grandpa, and was expressing that joy
through the act of skipping down the path.
The sight of that brought some joy to me as well. I thought about what I had seen several times
during the day that day and how just the little things can bring about happiness
and peace in a life that often is fraught with illness, trouble, and pain. And this girl doesn’t know it…they didn’t
even know I was watching them…but she brought some joy to my day by what she
did.
I know I’ve preached on this before…but I’ll say it
again. One never, ever knows how much
good just a little kindness…a little joy…a little happiness…will do for others
who may be in the middle of some kind of trial, illness, or difficult situation
in life. This little girl made a
difference in my day by doing what came naturally for her to do at that moment. Think what kind of a difference you might make
in someone’s day if you were intentional in your actions.
Train yourself to begin to look for ways you can make the
life of someone else better or easier.
Unless you’re a hermit, you’ll probably find several such opportunities
in the course of a normal day. Then take
advantage of one or more of those opportunities. Spread a little kindness and cheer to others. Start today.
Blessings.
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