Kindnessgirl

I took a pregnancy test at a Harris Teeter grocery store once. It was one of those moments where my namesake was of no help at all. There was NO patience, not even a little bit, I had to know.

I remember looking at the two pink lines in shock but somehow I shoved the truth telling stick in my bag, washed my hands and finished my grocery shopping, of course. While standing in front of the 1,000 choices of yogurt, I glanced over at an older woman standing next to me. It instantly felt so very surreal- I was holding this information that would drastically change my life, information so big, and she was standing next to me with absolutely no idea what just happened- we were just both deciding whether to pick cherry orchard or key lime pie yoplait.

Part of me wanted to blurt out- “I’m pregnant!! THIS IS SO WEIRD and I’m kinda terrified and excited, and CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?!!”…but that seemed super creepy, but now I wish I had. Because then there was another time when a dear friend was dying, way before her time, a girl with more life and fire in her than anyone I had ever met- and this time I found myself in front of that same row of yogurt, now with a baby on my hip, wanting to burst into tears. It felt surreal in a different way, the whole world was going on, buying yogurt and bagels, and she was still fighting…and losing…and that felt so wrong. In that moment, it was all too much for any of us to hold alone.

So we walk through life, standing right next to each other with no idea and yet with all the humanity required.

In a bit of divinity and magic, we sometimes find the words and crawl towards each other, or we hear of gatherings in the bread aisle where people find each other in the most ordinary of places and exchange offerings of bravery and kindness- Momastery is such a place.

This Saturday, I will be speaking at WomanKind, a wonderful conference created by women who yearned for creating a community and lasting togetherness. In the spirit of this goodness, we are inviting our fellow sisters to join us in 3 kindness missions this week- one mission each to honor the work of 3 main speakers and the communities they serve.

Today we have a mission in honor of Glennon Melton and the Monkees who are finding each other, again and again with so much hope and love.

So here goes:

There is a woman waiting for her latte who is getting a call about her chemo results later this afternoon…

There is a kid who just stepped off the bus that changed her clothes 10 times this morning because she is wondering if she will ever feel beautiful…

There is a mom who is reading every weather report know to man and panicking because she is just not sure she can handle another snow day…

There is a woman that is cleaning someone else’s toilets and feels completely defeated when she looks at the state of her own house, there is just no time in 3 jobs world…

There is a woman walking into the business meeting of her life, the kind where she has to gather her deep bravery to stand in all her power…

There is a woman who has to tell her children that their dad just died of a drug overdose, he had been sober for 23 years before last year, bless his very tender heart…

and all these women will be walking to a bus stop, or waiting at a Starbucks, or opening a locker, or pushing the elevator button or stopping by the grocery store.

Here’s your mission:

1.Find a post-it and write down  a note of hope or encouragement*, maybe even something you need to hear yourself and leave it in a public place for someone to find.

Because the truth is, even if we never speak to each other, or we have no idea…we can be together. It just doesn’t work any other way.

2. Take a picture of you, or your note or where you left it and post it to the  WomanKind Facebook page  . Be sure to tag it #WomanKINDness on Instagram , Facebook or Twitter.

3. ALSO, if YOU need a message today, let me know at Patience@kindnessgirl.com  and we’ll send you a post-it pic of hope privately or on the LOHK page.

Hope to see your kind faces on Friday night or Saturday, if you still need tickets, you can get them here .

With kindness,

p

*p.s. simple messages work just fine- you are loved, you matter, we are with you, you survived, you are beautiful…just the right person will find it.