Enjoying Kindness and Blessings

"Kind words are a creative force, a power that concurs in the building up of all that is good, and energy that showers blessings upon the world."
― Rev. Lawrence G. Lovasik

Today was a day to enjoy kindness and blessings.  I woke up to gifts and a cake -- with candles lit!  I was blessed the whole day with calls, e-mails and texts from friends from all different parts of my life.  I have always thought of birthdays as moments to take stock, to count my blessings...  But today I decided I would just enjoy the kindness and blessings.

I marveled at my friends who arranged for gifts to arrive just in time, at the friends who kept calling because my voicemail was full, at my friends who arranged birthday celebrations, at a friend who made a video for me as she could not celebrate in person with me, at my family members and the efforts they made...

And then there was the kindness of a stranger, a woman whose name I don't know.  I am big on birthdays:  I like to celebrate, I like to wear something new -- nothing major, just a new blouse perhaps.  Certain that I could find something, I went to one of my favorite shops yesterday, but no luck.  Even as my son told someone at the store that I was looking for a "birthday costume."

Today, admittedly a little disappointed on the wardrobe front, I put on a blouse I have worn many times.  Mid-morning, I went to a donut shop to buy several dozen donuts for a bake sale at my children's school.  An older woman was sitting at a table next to where I was waiting for the donuts to be boxed.  She looked up at me from where she was sitting and said, "You're beautiful."  Surprised and not sure I had heard right, I looked at her perplexed.  "You're beautiful," she repeated.  (Okay, so maybe I just wanted to hear it again.)  She went on to say that she really liked my blouse, my necklace and my make-up.  I told her that she made my day.  And I shared that it was my birthday and that I had wanted to wear something new, but I hadn't found anything.  She wished me a Happy Birthday.  I thanked her and left, definitely feeling better about not having found a new "birthday costume" -- as silly as the whole notion might have been to begin with.

No matter how much I write about and experience kindness, I am in awe of the impact that we can have on each other when we take that step, when we accept the invitation, to reach out and connect with kindness.