If you've been following along here at The Dialogue Den for a reasonable amount of time, then you know that my life has had more than its share of bumps lately.
There was the car accident on April 29th (which was determined to be MY fault even though I was the one who was hit by the other driver as he sharply made a left turn. I'm still looking into rebutting that.)
There's been the "Dissolution of me 'Joe'."
There've been the "barely there finances."
And there's been the constant hospitalization of my Dad. Yes, at this very moment, he is in the hospital. Between hospitals and rehabilitation centers, he has not been in his own home for more than 5 consecutive days since the Friday before Thanksgiving last year. Seriously...I don't think he's been home for 30 days combined, since last November. It's been "hospital, rehab, hospital, rehab" on a continuous loop.
Those things alone are enough to send someone into a fairly deep depression. In all honesty, I have been quite close.
But my FAITH, and the caring words of a few good friends have held me together.
As I looked at the calendar today I realized that I am THIRTY days away from my birthday. That too is something that can cause me to get a bit melancholy because my Mom is no longer here to sing me "The Birthday Song" that she'd sung to me EVERY year for as long as I can remember.
But instead of letting myself get down, sinking into depression, I decided to keep this ship afloat and focus on that which will keep me UPLIFTED and ENCOURAGED.
I decided that I will take on these next thirty days with an attitude of GRATITUDE and THANKFULNESS.
So everyday, from now until my birthday, I will post about ONE thing that I am THANKFUL for. Doing this little exercise helps me keep things in perspective.
To kick off today I thought I would write about something I witnessed on my bus ride home.
With all of the hatred and negativity in the world, what I witnessed was so very refreshing.
I was on the bus, riding along, and we got to a stop.
A young Black dude got on, tapped his card onto the transmitter and it made the "denied" sound. No...I didn't actually hear the word "denied," I just know the sound when the tap card isn't working or has no funds.
The guy said a few words to the bus driver and motioned to turn around and get off the bus.
Before he could take a step, a White guy on the bus got up, walked to the payment machine and put the fare in for the Black guy. That warmed my heart to witness such an act of generosity.
The Black guy thanked him, they did a "fist bump" and everybody was on their merry way.
So many thoughts began swirling around in my head after seeing that.
I thought about how we hear so much negativity when it comes to Black/White relations and how there is so much racism in this country. But you know what...at that particular moment in time, I was reminded there is far more POSITIVE than negative...we just don't hear about it. And so...that is why I chose to write about it today.
The fact that it was a White man paying the fare for a Black man isn't really the point. The situation very well could have played out the other way around. Or it could have been a Hispanic man paying the fare...or whatever.
The point is that KINDNESS does still exist in our society.
In light of the events that took place in Orlando this weekend, and other atrocities that have taken place here and in other parts of the world...not just this past weekend, but in times past...I need to know that KINDNESS exists and that this world is not simply filled with all of the HATE that we hear about so regularly. Yes...there are evil folks who commit heinous crimes like the one this weekend, however my HEART needs to believe that there are far more GOOD, LOVING, DECENT people than there are like "that guy" (whose name I refuse to mention).
Now, Let the DIALOGUE begin: 30 Days of Thankfulness:Day 1 - I am THANKFUL for human kindnesses that are shown one to another. What are YOU thankful for?
Talk to me!
Til next time...
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