Yesterday, I was very sick and feeling kind of sorry for myself. You know how when you are so sick that you feel like you might cry and you begin fancy yourself a martyr. Yes, I do. I normally just try to carry on but there is a point where I am so sick and worn out that every breath I take, every moment that I am still folding clothes and cooking dinner, becomes a debt the world owes to me.
Yes, I know it is completely irrational for a grown woman to start crying because she asked her husband to help her fold the laundry on her bed, the bed she was so desperate to collapse into, and he said, “I’ll try.” But I had hit my man cold threshold. He eventually came to my rescue but at that point I was hurt and mad. He cleared off the bed and fluffed my pillows and stubbornly I didn’t utter a word.
This morning, I still felt completely not myself. I didn’t want anyone to expect or ask for anything today. I just wanted to be left alone with my sickness. I was feeling sorry for myself and I was being very pessimistic.
I turned on the television and heard exactly what I needed to hear. What goes around, comes around. Call it karma or fate or God smiting the smug but I was raised on do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. Be a blessing in other people’s lives. Your soul is nourished when you are kind to others.
I listened and realized how miserable I have been behaving. I’ve been so consumed with how badly I felt being sick that I lost sight of the fact that I was making my entire family feel miserable with my nasty attitude. I was not resting or taking care of myself. I was soldiering on and bitter about it. My soul was as malnourished as my body.
If you are good and kind to people, it starts a chain reaction; a ripple effect in the world; I forget that sometimes. If you are kind to someone, you brighten their day, they go on to smile and brighten someone else’s and so on and so forth. But if you are filled with negativity and anger and you bite someone’s head off, then you have ruined their day and set the tone for aggravation and anger and they do too. It is contagious.
You can’t always change your circumstances but you can always change the way you react to it. Choose to be happy and thankful and gracious and giving to the world and it will come back to you like a fate boomerang, picking up a little momentum on the way.
I cannot undo my nasty reaction but I can be kinder in the future. I can think before I react. I can be honest the next time and let him know how sick I really am and how vulnerable that makes me feel. I can express my gratitude with kindness rather than react with anger without explanation. I can thank him for giving me the best days of my life rather than focusing on that one time I was sick and he didn’t run up the stairs quickly enough.
If we get back what we put out into the world, I want to put kindness, understanding, tolerance and love into the world. I want to thank people for all they do and appreciate them for who they are in a million little ways, every day.
How do you express gratitude and appreciation to your loved ones?
Mahalo is the Hawaiian word for thank you. You can say thank you to these wonderful charities- Big Brothers Big Sisters, Meals On Wheels Association of America, Family Caregiver Alliance, and One Warm Coat by voting for them on www.kingshawaiian.com/project-mahalo.
All charities will receive $10k, but the winner with the most votes will receive $25k.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Kings Hawaiian® Project Mahalo. The opinions and text are all mine.
