A Light in THE DARKNESS

Okay, people.  November is still kicking my butt.  All over the place.  NaNoWriMo has been a NaNoNoGo, my knitting projects have been, well, difficult and really?  All I want to do is find my sweats, blankey, the corner of my couch and a bag of Dove chocolates.  And Bull Durham.  Over and over.

My kitchen is a mess, the dining room table is covered in piles of school materials, I'M COLD, I'm behind on laundry, there are toys everywhere I look, I'M COLD, I can't turn a freaking heel on a sock I'm trying to knit and I'M COLD.

People are mean and cut me off in traffic.  One lady totally broke in front of me in the line at the store with 900 items to my 1 and was completely lacking remorse.  The economy is tanking, etcetera...etcetera...etcetera.

But.

Yesterday afternoon, I was finishing up some school-related stuff at the aforementioned dining room table, when the doorbell rang.  I saw that it was the UPS man, putting a package by the front door.  I finished what I was doing, as I knew the package didn't require a signature, before I went to the door to get the box.  When I opened the door, the UPS man was still there.

Not waiting for a signature.

He was picking up the pots of dead mums that had fallen over during the night and placing them back on the stand.  As I opened the door, he was just reaching for the doormat, which he then proceeded to shake out over the flower beds, to clean off the dirt and blossoms.

I was rendered near speechless (which is not a common thing).  I stammered out something like, "Y-Y-Y-You are the nicest UPS man.  EVER."

He grinned and looked down, a little embarrassed at having been caught doing his random act of kindness.  He kind of half smiled and said that he knew people liked to keep their front porches neat, and he just liked to help out.  Then, he jumped back onto his shining steed into his brown truck and drove away just as the birds began to sing and the clouds parted and long, glorious rays of light touched the ground on which it had so recently been parked.

And that, my friends, is exactly how it happened.

That's when I understood.

The Darkness can be defeated.

It  just takes a few moments - go out tomorrow with your mission as this:  Find one person today and do something completely out of the blue that is nice and helpful and kind and giving.  Smile.  Ask for nothing in return.  Maybe even try not to get caught doing it.  And if you are, make like its no big deal.

Shove a little light into the dark and see what happens.

Peace.