You Cannot Do A Kindness Too Soon

Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again. ~Og Mandino

On a somber note today -

Please bear with me - due to the confidential nature of the incident, I have to be careful in how I word this post.

About a week ago, I met someone whose reputation as a drug addict preceded them. Their behavior on our first meeting confirmed this. I was annoyed and a bit angry, but after some thought I decided that I would offer compassion and support instead of judgment at our next meeting, which was scheduled for yesterday. Goddess - and my friends and family - knows that my own actions have been less than perfect over this past year. I realized that if they were in such bad shape they probably needed some understanding.

But someone else showed up instead and when I asked about them, I was told that they had died that morning. It's unclear as to whether it was an accident or a suicide.

You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The fact that I didn't have time to do that kindness before it was too late doesn't redeem me. I feel that I should have done something that day, but of course, I had to think about it first before I was able to do the "right" thing. I shouldn't have had to think about it. My heart knows that none of us have the right to judge anyone but my head doesn't always follow.

Please take a moment to send loving thoughts to their spirit and family, especially a significant other who is devastated.

Be well, and be blessed.
Parthena

Related Links:

Intervention: Helping Convince Addicts They Need Help

Words Can Kill

Meditate and Teach Your Brain Compassion