Accepting Kindness Becomes Easier When You Stop Judging Its Source
A few weeks ago, I was having a less than stellar day and you could see that fact plainly on my face and in the set of my shoulders. I wanted to quit my job. I was unhappy about my son’s behavior at school — including the fact that he had refused to go that day and had spent the entire afternoon living his best life on my couch without a care in the world. I wasn’t looking forward to being home that evening. I didn’t want to listen to whatever he was watching on TV at a volume that would wake the dead. I didn’t feel welcome at work and I felt alienated at home. Where was I supposed to go? I just wanted to sit quietly to rest and think.
When I stepped onto my porch, juggling groceries, fast food bags, and my purse while trying to fish out my keys, my neighbor, who almost never speaks to me, asked if everything was okay. I was confused and didn’t respond for a few beats, but eventually looked up from my bubble of chaos and met her eyes. She was smiling at me. I wasn’t really sure what to make of that, because I’m not exactly fond of my neighbors.
When they moved in this past winter, they made a lot of noise and gave the dwelling next to mine the feel of a halfway house. I wasn’t 100 percent sure how many people were living there, but my estimate was three women and occasionally a little girl. At first, I…
