SYL - Week 11

Kindness and Gratitude (gratitude is a very strange looking word! Just thought I would put that out there!), are two words that I have been thinking about a lot this week.

It's safe to say, I've had a week from hell. The whole family came down with gastro, I travelled 4 hours from home, to sell some of my handmade items at a market stall, only to come down with gastro myself and had to get my sister to run the stall for me while I slept it off. Home again yesterday and up at 4am this morning to sick kids. Now have a wide awake baby playing beside me while I catch up on some blogging, waiting for the sun to come up.

source

You know what though? I am grateful for it all (well perhaps not the gastro bit).  I have kids to get sick, I have a sister to help me out, I have a hubby to look after the kids while I go away following the first part of one of my dreams, I have another sister home to help out with the kids as well. I know lots of people that don't have that much and I am grateful that I do.

When it comes to kindness, I believe I have always had that. I grew up in a small country town and I was bought up to smile and say hello as you passed someone, even if you didn't know who they were. I constantly let people in in traffic, much to the dismay of the people behind me! I hold doors open for people and I help anyone who I think needs it.

The thing that has stood out to me this week is that I haven't even thought much about these acts of kindness. I just assumed that everyone did them. They had just become part of me and something that I did until I started to take notice of them and the fact that most other people didn't do them. 

Perfect example, I had 3 of my kids with me at the supermarket one day. Toddler walking with one of the big kids, baby in the pram, giant box of groceries balanced somewhere on top. Big kid managed to get a free butterscotch from the check out operator and gave it to the toddler. Of course I was busy and thought nothing of it...... until the toddler swallowed it whole and was choking on it!! I was in the middle of a bus stop, big kid holding the pram, box of groceries on the ground and toddler held almost fully upside down, being whacked on the back. How many people do you think helped me or even asked if we were ok?...... That's right, none. I was astounded. If I was a bystander, there is no way that I could have stood by and watch that and not offer assistance. Even if it was to hold the groceries!!!

This is when I get disheartened with the world. I now realise that I have 2 choices. I can get angry and resentful and start to treat the world the way they treat me, or I can walk away and hold my head high, knowing that I am a kind person and for that I am Grateful.

*forgot to add, toddler was fine once the butterscotch was dislodged from halfway down his oesophagus! We picked up the box of groceries and were on our merry way again.