Around 10:30 pm on December 25th, I received a text wishing me a Merry Christmas and many blessings. I had to look twice, because the text came from a person I’d only met once for about an hour, for business purposes, several months ago.
I thought it was unusual, but I took it at face value and returned the Christmas wishes. I could’ve been suspicious that it was some sales-related thing. I could’ve thought it was hokey. I could’ve wondered whether it was appropriate to presume I even celebrated Christmas. I did not imagine those things until much later, because in the brief hour we’d met a few months ago, I had surmised that this was a kind-hearted, decent man. His intentions were earnest.
We exchanged a couple more short texts, and he ended up saying, “You never know what kind of impact a simple random text can have for [the other person] or you or both.”
He is so right. I must’ve been one of hundreds of people he texted. At 10:30 at night, on a holiday that can be fraught for so many, he spent what must’ve been a fair amount of time to extend a simple kindness. His gesture touched me, and who knows, it may have made all the difference for someone else in his contacts list.
You just never know what impact a small gesture of kindness might have.
Will a simple text cure depression or persistent anxiety? Will it alleviate symptoms of trauma or PTSD? Of course not. But that isn’t the point. It was a small reminder that we are all in community with each other. We are each responsible to watch out for each other, in ways large and small.
A new year is coming, and for so many of us, it’s a time for new beginnings and fresh starts. For me, this text that struck me so much has set the tone for the new year. My occupation is the work of caring for others, but now, because of this text, I am starting the new year by looking at my work with a slightly different eye: what small things can I do that might make a difference, however briefly, in the life of those I encounter? What can I do in daily life, outside of work?
I encourage you, even if you think a random late-night text on a holiday is a bit beyond what you would ever choose to do, to think about the small things you could do to serve your community. Serving others in healthy ways is, in the end, one of the best parts of self-care.
I wish you and those you care about a healthy, peaceful, and abundant-in-all-ways new year.
(For more thoughts on self-care, see my blog post here.)