This weekend I was on my own. I was working Saturday but on Sunday the only people. I spoke to , other than the animals , was the lady beside me in my gym class and a man in a cafe in Thornhill. Now this is not a cry of loneliness , I had offers to catch up with friends but I enjoy my own company and wanted a weekend for me.
However it did make me think if I was on my own all the time and those two interactions were all I had each day, how much more impact they would have on me. If the lady hadn’t chatted to me at the gym or the man was rude at the shop, how much worse I would feel.
Even the smallest of exchanges with people count. We’ve all been there, we’ve been snappy on the phone to our family when we are running late , if we work with clients or customers, we have been sharp because we are tired or we’ve purposely not made eye contact with the person next us to at the gym class because they look a bit weird. I hold my hands up to all of that…. But what if those interactions were all those folk had all day…. It makes me feel rather sick to my stomach.
My mum, bless her. She has been a hero coping with two lockdowns on her own but she’s on her own everyday locked down or not.
And she is a star.
But I’ve not always been the most patient listening to her stories about the birds she’s seen in her garden, or what plant has seeded or who said what on her whats app group with her gym friends. Even though I often would be the only person she has spoken to some days. And yesterday, it really hit me and. I felt pretty damn shit about it.
It’s not easy to be happy, smiley, chatty, kind, interested and conversational especially when we balance the stress and busyness of work, kids and life but we really don’t know the impact we can have, positively or negatively by our actions and interactions.
It’s not always easy, but if you can, be nice. Be kind. Smile. You never know the impact you might have on somebody and you know never know it might be you that appreciates the smallest of gestures on a lonely day.
Sent with a smile 😊❤️
