Spread a Little Love

I had a conversation with a friend recently about why I don't watch the news. Well, Friday is why: Something like this happens, and it's sensationalized and analyzed and talked about over and over and over again, and I start to feel afraid and hopeless and helpless, and I despair for mankind and life feels so heavy.

I don't need to be reminded how bad people can be. I want to wake up every day believing that people at their core are good. I need to believe that there is more goodness in the world than evil.

I have some posts half-written in my drafts folder: Rylan's birthday, bike stuff, Christmas prep, yada yada yada. What feels appropriate to me right now, here on this blog in the week leading up to Christmas, is to spread a little love, and I want to invite you to do the same. If you have a blog, please share a story, a quote, a video, a song, anything that reminds you that people are more good than bad. If you don't have a blog, facebook will do. Even twitter. Let's flood the internet with love and kindness and charity.


Here's my start:

A few years ago, I wrote down the following experience that I had early one morning at a Dunkin Donuts:

"A few months ago, Michael needed a ride to work really early in the morning, and the only way I could get my sleepy boys to put on shoes and head out to the car was to promise them some donuts. You'd think they'd be grateful for the treat, but as typical three- and four-year-olds, they spent the morning fighting and complaining, and by the time we were settled at a table in Dunkin Donuts, I was pretty frazzled. It was 8:00 in the morning, and the day was not looking good.

"And then a nice gentleman at the next table started teasing my boys and making them laugh. He showed us pictures of his twin grandkids and told us some jokes. In short, he brightened the morning.

"I left Dunkin Donuts feeling truly grateful for the kindness of a man that I will never see again."

All these years later, I still often think about that man and the favor he did for me. He's the type of person I want to be like - not someone so cocooned in their own life and troubles that they miss the opportunity to help another person, but someone who's always willing to share a little happiness