Day 39-Chew on That

Day 39-I spent day thirty nine in an almost eleven hour training. It was a stimulating and educational day, but to say I was exhausted by the end of it would be a gross understatement of my condition. During the training I met many professionals as I only knew the trainer before the training began. I lady sitting next to me had traveled a distance to attend and throughout the morning I noticed that she was coughing pretty regularly. At first, I thought maybe her throat was dry but as the training progressed, I realized she was continuing to have small bouts of coughing. I searched through my bag and found a piece of gum and silently handed it to her. She looked at me a little puzzled and I smiled and quietly offered, "I thought this might be helpful." She looked from the gum back to me and then smiled and said thank you. The training was crammed into one day with some extensive follow up planned as a result of impending snow tomorrow and we had to eat boxed lunches during the training to get all of our time. Once we had all finished our lunches I again went into my bag and, this time, produced the entire pack of gum and passed it around offering every participant a piece of peppermint gum. I smiled and told them that I thought I had read somewhere that peppermint helps with concentration and as today would be a long day of training thought it might be a nice after lunch and stimulating treat. Many accepted the offer and I hope appreciated the act of kindness. Taking care of those around us and sharing what we have is an act of service to others. I was raised in a very giving family and this is a part of myself I had put on a shelf as I had felt taken advantage of and had been met with cynical responses from others at times. I am reminded that others may not understand our kindness or believe it to be genuine, and we should be kind anyway. 226 more days of kindness...are you in?