https://www.flickr.com/photos/131662339@N07/37539246272/in/datetaken-public/

So we’ll take a break from the depressing posts about anxiety issues and chat about something different, though related.

After the first two “clean” CT scans, I realized I had been given an amazing gift – a second chance at life of sorts.  While this is thrilling and positive, it comes with a bit of pressure.  At least for me.  What can I do to make a difference in life?

I don’t make much of a difference at work, except in a mostly negative way.  I’m the claims person a lot of people hate.   Sigh….

I don’t have kids so can’t make a difference there.  My dog.  Yes, Chance’s life is pretty special but it’s unclear if he actually appreciates that lol.

The plan was to volunteer somewhere to make a difference, just haven’t found the right cause yet.  Or one that I can fit into my schedule.  Still working on that.

And then I realized that sometimes it is just little things that can make a difference.

The picture above was taken in Shenandoah National Park and was not really planned.  There is a story here.

The trip to the park was odd in a way.  I planned it mainly to see a friend of mine who lives near Washington DC.  We hadn’t spent time together for about 5 years and then the stars aligned for this trip.  Or we forced the stars to align.  I tacked the days in the park on to the back end of the trip to work in a fall trip to a cooler place.

There were some personal issues to work through and I was also beyond stressed with work overload after two hurricanes.  The trip was almost cancelled or pushed back but I powered my way through it.  Not exactly the way to go on a vacation.

Then I started to feel a little unwell – a urinary tract infection (PSA for the day….skip drinking cranberry juice to help with a UTI and take the cranberry supplement.  The supplement works wonders without all the sugar!) added on top of the usual digestive issues that remain after radiation.  I’m the person planning a trip around bathrooms.

Anyway, I decided I had to catch a sunset, it just seemed like the thing to do.  So I got back in the car and forced my tired self to drive back to an overlook facing west.

There were some other folks there, maybe ten or so.  We were all sort of standing around by our cars waiting for the sun to set.  Then this car pulled up with two young ladies in it.  English was not their native language, not sure where they were from.

They came up to me and started to chat.  I swear traveling alone opens you to conversations with people you would not otherwise have.  We snapped pics of the sunset and they showed me how to change the settings on my phone to change the exposure for photos.

Then one went back to the car and she got out this sunflower.  I didn’t really see what she was doing until her friend showed me the pictures.  She held it up so I could get a pic, too.  It turned out to be my favorite pic of the entire trip.

Not planned.  Total strangers never to be seen again. Totally made my day brighter.

A couple of weeks ago, I took a Friday afternoon off and went to some local gardens followed by a quick trip to the mall.  Penney’s was having a sale and I am tired of my clothes.

There were these chaotic bins of women’s tops that were on sale but people had been rummaging through the display so everything was mixed up.  Another lady was there looking through the piles and was muttering to herself that she was looking for a certain style in a certain size but couldn’t find it.  I told her it was like shopping at a flea market.

I moved to a different table with more chaotic stacks and found what she was looking for.  I called her over and BAM! I was right.  She was thrilled!  She thanked me several times and by the smile on her face, I knew her day was made better.

I could have gone about my business without telling her or not even paid attention to what was in the mess of a display.  But her day and my day were both brighter by something so simple and so seemingly insignificant.

Perhaps that is how I can serve a better purpose.  Just by doing small, random acts of kindness.

Huh.  Something to think about.