Life and the Privilege of Friendship: The Simplest Act of Kindness
In the wake of Hurricane Sandy and it’s devastation to life and property in the US on October 30, 2012, I delved into the archives of my thoughts and muses and came up with something I wrote after the Tsunami in Japan in March of 2011. Nothing has changed. Oh the dates and times, and the severity of the individual events perhaps, but nothing has really changed, at least not the things that matter. The only difference is the question of what we will do before the next event happens. Here is my brief reminder:
Japanese Tsunami - March 2011
In the past several years there has been much tragedy and adversity in all our lives. From 9/11 to Tsunami’s to Hurricanes to personal loss of all kinds. There always seems to be an event that provokes us to view our own mortality. This brief letter is an attempt to share my view of recent days.
I’ve come to appreciate more the importance of the people around me...my family, my friends, my co-workers and co-writers, all those who have come into my life for one reason or another. I don’t always understand why they’re here, but I know there is a grander scheme. My main focus here, however, is just to say thank you for the part all of you have played or are playing in my life.
Helen Keller once wrote: “My friends have made the story of my life. In a thousand ways they have turned my limitations into beautiful privileges, and have enabled me to walk serene and happy in the shadow cast by my deprivation.”
Although my story and my limitations are very different than Helen Keller’s I am no less “happy in the shadow cast by my own deprivation.” The events of the world will persist, they will keep on coming. The calamities of this world will cause us to continue to search for answers deep within. My best friend (my wife Sophia), and all of you, each in his or her own way, have helped me “turn my limitations into beautiful privileges.
So now, I simply want to say THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR LIFE WITH ME! I also want to encourage all of you, before the next soul-searching event occurs, to make the time to:
Touch someone, perform one small act of kindness, tell your spouse, your mother, father, son, daughter, brother, sister, or any other family member that you love them. Say thank you to your friends for the role they have played in making your life a “beautiful privilege.”
Thanks for being there.
Peace Be With You
