Brighten Your Day

I wanted to try to do something kind today and I had an appointment with a nutritionist I recently started working with who has been absolutely incredible. She let me know we'd need to skip next week and while chatting after the session she shared that she is going through a very challenging time at home.

I left the session and felt so bad for what she's going through. I thought of what a kind, intelligent and hardworking woman she is and how I empathized with what she was facing at home but felt confident that she could get through it. I had a moment of wondering if I should tell her how I felt but immediately dismissed it for fear of looking silly or accidentally making her uncomfortable.

Then I thought about all of the people I read about here and how they didn't let their nerves or busy lives stop them from extending kindness to complete strangers and I felt inspired to try something small.

It's nothing like the big acts I've seen here, I didn't go out of my way to mail someone's wallet home or find someone's dog or comfort someone's baby. All I did was spend a few minutes writing out a letter describing the ways I'd seen my nutritionist exemplify her empathy, intelligence, critical thinking, kindness and commitment to helping others.

I explained how I knew that the support she really needed was from her loved ones but that, as a client, I considered her an expert on the topic of listening to her body and making the right decisions for long term well being and that if anyone should trust their gut and believe in themselves, it was her.

I sent it, floundered for a bit, imagined her letting me know I made her feel uncomfortable or more realistically sending an awkward but polite dismissal and reminder to keep things professional. Then I forgot about it for the rest of the work day. I just received a reply from her where she let me know that she broke down "ugly crying" because of how much she needed some kindness and validation today. She shared a little more about how much she'd been struggling and how much it meant that I listened to my own gut and sent my message.

I would have never thought that a few words from new client could have any type of impact like that and I had no idea how hard things were for her behind her bubbly and professional appearance.

Thank you guys so much for this community, for this reminder of how much little acts can help, and for this push to not hold back from reaching out to others for fear of looking silly. I'm not going to go around bombarding strangers with long letters but I will try to make a habit of extending more acts of kindness to those around me.