26 Acts

In the wake of the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, I have been struggling with what I can do.  I don't have the money to drive to CT and bear witness or help keep those pesky WBC jerks out of there.  I can't donate.  I can write.  But everyone and their mother is writing.  Social media is full of well-written tributes and thoughts.  Sure, I could add my $.02, but really, others have already said it better.  I am really struggling.  

P and I wore white and green in honor of the school on Monday.  My sister and dad put together an ornament for us, which I posted and then got liked by the Sandy Hook Memorial Page.  But this seems trivial.  

I read about an idea.  #26Acts.  Dedicate 26 kind acts to the memory of the 20 children and 6 teachers/faculty at the school.  You don't need to advertise them.  You don't need to post anything.  Just do it.  And know in your heart that you are doing something small that maybe someone else will pay forward.  

So I started being conscious of doing these small things.  So far there has been a lot of letting people out into traffic at rush hour when no one else will, LOL.  But it doesn't matter what.  And as I would do something, and I'm really just at the very beginning of this tribute, I realized these are things I do EVERY DAY.  

I'm not doing something out of the ordinary for me.  I do little things all the time.  And I'm proud of myself for it.  I just never realized what I'm doing.  I counted 3 in a quick trip to the grocery store.  I hope that I'm able to pass this on to my son.  The ability to not be in such a hurry that you can't do something nice for someone, even something that maybe seems insignificant.  

Maybe this is what we all need to be doing.  Maybe this is what is wrong with our country.  Too many people in a hurry to ACHIEVE and SUCCEED and EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF (hey, didn't you see A Beautiful Mind?  That guy disproved that theory, yo!).  Maybe if we slow down, all of us.  Or enough of us to show others that we can spare 3 seconds to let the guy parking next to you know that his headlight is out, the extra couple minutes in line to let someone obviously in a hurry go before you in the line at the grocery store.  Or whatever.  

I want to be that person who makes a big difference.  Who comes up with an idea that brings light into people's lives, and actually manage to make it happen.  Maybe I will, maybe I won't.  But I absolutely can make someone's day just a smidge better.  And then maybe they will make someone else's day a smidge better.  

So while I dedicate 26 acts of kindness to the beautiful souls lost in CT last week, I hope that I continue to be me, to do these little things.  Maybe paying it forward can really work.  Because we definitely need some change in our country.  And maybe that change is a little bit of love and kindness.

Will you join in?