Blog #560: Can I Kick Them Across?

It’s Thursday.

It’s my day to dig deep for a story.
That goes DEEPER.
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Earlier this week…

I was on a morning dog walk.

(Huge blessing that Amicus is still here to do his daily job of making me smile. I send a grateful whisper out to the Universe: “Thank you.“)

The grass in the park was watered hard the night before. The excess water had chased tens of worms to the sidewalk in their mission to get to drier land on the other side.

But without a little “pick-me-up” help…

Most every worm would be unsuccessful.

If passing feet didn’t get them…the sun soon would.

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If you’ve been reading me for long…

You know I save worms.

And snails.

I save the ones moving too slowly to make it safely to the other side.

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A sidetrack story before today’s story.

I was walking across Spain going up an incredibly rich snail-covered path. On the trail, there were 1,000+ giant squished snails who had failed to dodge the boots of previous hikers.

When my heart “felt” the destiny of these still-moving snail crossers, I put my backpack down on the side of the road and started picking up one big snail dude after another…transporting them safely to the other side.

Before I knew it…

There was a small army of hikers who had come up behind me…and when they saw what I was doing…they joined in my snail-saving mission.

Kindness grows where kindness is lived.

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Back to the worm story.

So there I was…

Rescuing the sidewalk-crossing worms from an inevitable last day alive when a voice walking behind me curiously asked:

Her: “What are you picking up?“

Me: “Worms.“

Her: “Why are you doing that?“

Me: “Because if I don’t, they won’t make it across the sidewalk.“

Her: “Why do you care about that?“

Me: “Because I don’t want today to be their last day.“

Thirty seconds later, a new comment and question:

Her: “That’s very nice of you. I’m afraid to pick them up. Can I kick them across with my feet?“

Me: “Ummm…I’m not sure that will work for them.“

Thirty second delay (again)…and then:

Her: “I’m going to start saving them, too. I’ll have to figure this out.“

I repeat…

Kindness grows where kindness is lived.

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The world is growing in meanness.

Twitter is the only social media platform in which I actively participate…and it is growing crazy mean. I often succeed in NOT reading the “Trending”…but when I do read, I confess I feel a little meaner, too.

I hate that feeling.

Last week, I created a new post-it for me to see when I walk out my door:

Be a little extra kind today.

Someone needs to feel a little extra of it.

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So yeah…

I save worms and snails.

Now I’m definitely not advocating that we all have to do THAT in order to shine kindness in the world…but I’m happy to share my gig if you want to join.

However, what I am advocating is…

We don’t have to join the mean.

Sure, we each have moments when we “think the things that we think,” but…

The mean doesn’t have to leave our lips.

The mean doesn’t have to leave our fingers.

The mean doesn’t have to be tossed into the world with our actions.

No matter what mean seeds the world tries to plant…

We don’t have to pick up the watering can.

The weeds are tall enough already.