Wednesday 20 January 2016

Just be Kind

Hello all.

It  has been some time since I have blogged! Usually it is lovely, nicey, nice, arty fulfilling words. At least I hope so!

Today I feel compelled to write about something very difficult to write or indeed talk about.

Coming to work today, I heard on the local radio station about an incident in Macclesfield. Then, as I approached the studio I was met with a neighbour who told be about a man up a pylon.

The Facebook drums were in full force about the traffic, police and ambulances. Oh, and a man up a pylon.

I do not know the man. I do know that he is someone's son. Perhaps someone's brother, uncle, dad, husband, lover, best friend. I do know that he will be loved. Even if he is not feeling it right now.

I do know that if he does come down and gets support, his life, however bad it may feel right now, can improve. Bad things do not last forever.  Good things do not last forever. Life is a mix of both and, though some people do have more than their share of one or the other, there is life after devastation. We can become accustomed to anything.

I hope and pray that the man (up the pylon) is safe. I hope he is supported to gain strength for his recovery. Otherwise, another family and friend-set will be going through the agony of being left behind.

I was shown a local paper today. I do not even wish to name it. I am quite disgusted. On the front page is a photograph of my friend. He took his life a short few months ago.

The reporter phoned his fiancée, who did not wish to speak to them. That mattered, not, it seems, as the reporter quoted her anyway. The front page story (though wasn't the whole story) made up from facts gleaned from the inquest into the death of my friend. My friend, a man: who was a fiancé, a son, brother, uncle, cousin, friend.

I am still praying that the man in the pylon is safe. There is nothing I can do for him. There was nothing I could do for my friend. There is little anyone who is close to someone contemplating suicide can do, except that which we do. We offer support, kindness, words, time.

But quite often we do not know. We each have our own daily dramas and time sprints ahead of us, as we sometimes, unsuccessfully, race to catch up.

And this is why it is imperative that, in our busy lives, when we are late for work because of unusually high traffic or the operator on the till is too slow, we need to be kind.

I was reminded of this during a discussion at dinner last night. My friend Nik related a story he had read.

So, I'm taking a deep breath and my intention is to be kind. I will smile at the woman walking past my car because I do not know her story. I will smile at the man who bumps into me in his rush to get where he is going because I do not know his story. I will smile at the cashier who does not make eye contact and seems disinterested in her job because I do not know their story.

With kindness,

xxxx

2 comments:

  1. Very well said! If we could all find it within ourselves to treat everyone with loving kibdness, the world would be a much gentler place.

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  2. You are one of the kindest people I know! Thank you for these thoughts xxx

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