The week before last, I was the recipient of one of these opportunities. A friend of mine forwarded an email to me that her friend sent her asking everyone to make a sick little girls' 7th birthday the best ever by sending her a birthday card. Not only did the request inspire me to do much more, it touched me to my core, and awakened something in me that has been dormant for a long while. The thoughtfulness and sincerity of the person who wanted nothing more than to see this young girl smile was amazing to me. I saw the simple beauty of this gesture, and was in awe of the woman who wanted to create magic for this child, if only for one day.
I was inspired enough to pass this along to more of my friends as well. I started with a few I had a feeling would be touched enough to do this as I was, and you know what, a couple of people did exactly that! ( Big shout out to Stephanie, Sophia and Manny!) But I was actually disappointed to see that more didn't. As I passed it along to even more people, and made it more known to others, a few more kindhearted people were moved enough to send something as well and let others know. ( Thank you Deb, Karie & Kara!), but overwhelmingly, not to many other people cared. I was actually pretty shocked about this. Out of over 400 people that are on my "friends list" ( all of them being people I actually know), only 6 people thought of more than just themselves and choose to brighten a little girls day who has been suffering from AML and Lukemia for more than 61 months. 5 of the 7 years she has been on this earth she has suffered with horrible diseases and it is too much to send a simple card to make a child smile? That is so sad to me.
I knew there were a lot of people who wouldn't do it due to their capacity to not really think of others in this manner ( and I am not meaning this in a rude way, it's just the truth), some would be too busy ( like we all aren't but some people know how to prioritize while others don't), and some just don't give a damn, and yes this is sad but true. I was saddened even more by the fact of knowing that I had so many " friends" (obviously I am using this term loosely) on facebook that this really didn't touch them enough for them to do something, even if it was just passing the email/ post on to someone else. Something as simple as that would have sufficed (even though I don't know if some did or not for sure). I wanted to help flood this little girls room with cards from people all over the US to let her know that people do care and that she is such a brave little girl who inspires many people everywhere. I wanted to show her the kindness of strangers and how much she has touched them, even those far away. I wanted to help make her birthday special in my own way, by helping out as much as I could in some capacity, and I am happy to know I did.
On too the good stuff! I was overjoyed that I do have friends that didn't hesitate one bit to do this. They took one look at the email, went out and found the cutest cards, and mailed them as soon as they could. It was the kindest gesture and they didn't ask twice about it. This brought me to tears when each of them told me they sent their cards. I was incredibly inspired by this handful of people and was extremely proud that I have these type of people in my life and that I can call them friends. Their selflessness is amazingly refreshing and they inspire me to be a better person, even more now than before. I am a firm believer that the good that you do comes back to you tenfold, and I can't wait to see the blessings they will receive unfold. They deserve that and more, and with hearts of gold, I am sure they will get that and then some!
So needless to say, this has definitely opened my eyes. Some people aren't who I thought they were
and some don't surprise me at all. Some talk the talk , but their actions are no where near congruent with their words.
Most don't care because it does not pertain to them or their daily lives and others probably just don't
pay attention.
This is a wake up call to really evaluate why I have certain people in my life, and who I really want to be
around me and in my life. I know who I want to strive to be in life, and I just want the people who
are going to help me get there to be in it. I am thankful that there are those amazing, thoughtful,
caring people in my life because they inspire me to be a better person. People like Tracy ( the person who
organized this whole thing) has shown me what truly having compassion and heart means. Not saying I never
had it before, but it's the need to show it more often that has been renewed. Thank you for being such
an amazing person Tracy. Steph, Sophia, Manny, Deb, and Karie, thanks for being so awesome! You
guys rock!
For the rest, maybe one day your pay it forward moment won't be missed. It feels so good to do something just because - and I know I wouldn't want to miss the pure moment of joy like this for nothing!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAYLIN
