Your heart has to be prepared ahead of time through …grace and mercy and love and forgiveness so you can keep your heart open in hell, when hell happens.      Richard Rohr

As we hit the one-year mark of this *&^%$* pandemic, many of us feel our limit has been reached and we can go no further.  This mass -casualty event is enough to test the most contemplative among us. Still, strangers can surprise us.   I am decluttering and selling household items, which has unexpectedly helped me see how this pandemic has brought out the absolute best in us.

• I was selling a pair of leather chairs for $100–and once I got them outside in the light of day for the buyer to pick them up, I realized they were in far worse shape than I thought. When the buyer arrived, I told him the price was now $50 for both as they need work.  He said, “I am a man from the military, and we agreed on $100, so I am paying you $100.    I am getting them reupholstered, so this makes no difference to me.  I insist you take the amount we agreed on.”  We went back and forth arguing,  he would not leave without paying the full original  price.
•  A week later, I had a buyer for a table, and because he had rescheduled the time to come by,  he left an extra $20 for that inconvenience.
• In selling a pair of vases, I was not available to meet the buyer when he was available.  He picked up the vases and left the cash under the door mat.  He also left a tray of flowers he had picked up at the nursery because he thought I would like them (see photo above).

Are we all just craving kindness?  One definition of grace is kindness that is not merited.   This courteous goodwill I experienced by strangers elevated my sense of well-being for days.  I can guess that they too felt a boost.  I was unprepared to be lifted up by Craig’s List, but lifted I was.  So, as we wearily edge towards the end of this, be kind, just always be kind.

Eileen’s recent Interview on Good  Morning Washington 

Wellness Pearls I’ve come across on the Internet  

The Nicest Place on the Internet

You won’t be able to watch this without smiling!

Thank you Heather Glick for this.

Man Therapy

Sometimes a man needs a pork shoulder to cry on.  Manly tips on mental health.

A fantastic website by men,  for men on mental health, funny, edgy, effective, no BS.

All the Lonely People

Japan and the UK appoints first Minister of Loneliness.  Real phone calls to the UK’s Minister of Loneliness- this may help us to remember we can never know what others are going through.  And to be kind. Just be kind.