Life is about small acts of kindness, a co-worker put a coffee in front me at the most opportune moment today and it nearly brought tears to my eyes.
My significant other took out my garbage, organized my recycling and organized my pots and pans drawer one day while I was at work and it meant so much to me. My dad offered to cut my grass last week and it turned into a lovely chance to visit and share some coffee and cookies.
Home is about sharing yourself and the blessings you have received but sometimes I think we miss the little acts of kindness that can bring love to people in small ways everyday. I saw a little old lady pulling some cans out of my recycling box last week so now I want to make sure that there are some cans and bottles for her on top of the bin for her to take with her.
I have no idea where life will take this lady but it would make me happy to know that I took a few seconds of extra effort and possibly helped a little.
Often life gets very busy and we can easily overlook those around us who don’t live in beautiful homes and who don’t ever utter the sentence ‘my granite installation is SO stressful!’
I hope that when someone is right in front of us we will stop and be thankful for what we have and that we take one step towards that person and look at them as a human being and ask how we can help.
When I am sitting in my nicely appointed home with my beautiful leather furniture it is easy to forget that man I met a few weeks ago at a sub shop who couldn’t gather enough coins to buy a bowl of soup.
I could have left and jumped in my vehicle and drove away but I made myself stop and look at him and ask him what he needed. It turned out all he wanted was a bowl of soup.
Our homes are crowded beyond recognition with clutter which is both a physically and mentally unhealthy way to live. If you have rooms in your home that cannot be used for their intended function because of clutter then your house is woefully out of balance and probably a constant source of frustration. Ask yourself what you can donate or put on Kijiji as ‘free to a good home’ I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the people you help and the freedom you will personally experience.
We are blessed in this country of ours and I want everyone reading these words to stop for a second and choose one random act of kindness this week.
Whether its opening your beautifully designed home to a neighbour or keeping Ziploc bags filled with soap, toothbrushes and socks in your car to hand out to someone you encounter on the sidewalk outside your favorite coffee shop.
Let’s get outside our four walls, pocket the cell phone and take a look around our community. I thank you for reading my tidbits on design and colour and I hope that you will take one small action after reading this week – someone’s day may be depending on you.
Kim Wyse is an interior designer with Carpet Colour Centre in Red Deer.
