Another work from home day and I have to say, I am really glad I chose to go this route. Home just feels really nice right now.

It’s occurred to me that this time of waiting is not going to be quite as easy has I had anticipated. I really believed when my surgeon called to say we were good to go to surgery and the scheduler called with next Thursday as the date, that I would be SET! No such luck. Turns out a week is a VERY long time in this case. I find that I notice everything. Every twinge in my belly, (things I would have not previously paid ANY attention to at all) every small discomfort, am I hungry, am I not, am I tired, am I not.

I also find myself looking at everyone differently. Walking through Target I am thinking “I am sure I look like any other normal person to the others here……is there someone else walking around going through what I am? A mass in their body that needs to come out? Or maybe they just finished recovery?” It’s on odd way to walk around really, having these thoughts and wondering about so much.

I have never been what one would call “empathetic”. I mean, with my kids yes. They still can’t so much as get a paper cut and I writhe in the sympathy pains I have for them. And the youngest is 25. But I am talking about the rest of the world. I have always been pretty jaded really. Now I find myself caring a bit more, being a bit more understanding. The screaming child, the person on the road who seems to have no clue where they are going, the not exactly polite cashier. I recognize now that my kiddos screamed too, maybe he or she is tired or hungry or has just had enough shopping. I understand that I have been lost on the road, in an area I have never been and most certainly held up traffic while I tried to figure it out. And the cashier? Maybe she’s having a bad day. Maybe she or a loved one was recently diagnosed with cancer or something else that is really scary. Maybe taking time off work to process it isn’t an option. We have NO CLUE what people are going through.

I have learned that showing kindness is as easy, if not easier than being irritated about things all of the time & thinking the worst instead of assuming best intent. It feels good to know that the compliment or smile I just shared with someone may just change their day for the better. So be kind and smile. People all around you are going through things too.