3 Good Things and Lots of Small Acts of Kindness that add up to Big Things

Whoops! Sorry everyone, I missed yesterday and I even took the day off and everything. I did spend the morning getting a physical at the doctor’s office. All looks really good and I even got their blessing for these crazy levels of cycling I’m doing. “Ultracycling race in your 50s? Great to see you so active!” Then some fast food lunch and back home to relax with family. Ma po tofu for dinner again and then more Traitors UK with Sage. We also are starting to get into Gladiators (the UK version) which might seem out of character for us. But actually, upon watching that what I dislike about watching sports is the whole “us/them” aspect of it and the negativity around much of the competition. On this show, all of the competitors are so positive and supportive of one another, always finding something to praise in each other even when someone has a really awful round. If gym class were like this growing up I’d have a whole different mindset, let me tell you.

Today’s 3 Good Things:

Let’s try a different format to allow for more than a simple bulleted list. Sometimes there might still be one but not necessarily.

1) When I got off my bike and arrived at home I got a notification on my watch – my “fitness age” calculated by weight and activity levels and probably not the least bit accurate or scientific dropped again to five years younger than my actual age. While that number means nothing, it did prompt a check in with myself to see how I do feel. And yeah, I am feeling pretty good with moderate levels of activity. I don’t think I’d go out and ride a 200km ride today but I’ll be there in April/May for sure. I am mostly sleeping well and feeling pretty happy with how this body is performing at this age. This, combined with a really uneventful doctor’s visit makes me really happy and grateful.

2) I know I’ve said this before – these don’t have to be unique every single time – but wow, my attitude toward winter has been hugely changed by putting a few warm clothes on and putting a pair of winter tires on my bike.

Today it was -14°C and with a wind chill of about -20 when I left and there was no issue with being cold. As we’d had a bit of snow a few days ago the paths weren’t fully clean in some places.

First off: check it out! It’s pretty light out on my way to work!

For me the paths are a great chance to see how the winter tires work so I picked up a little bit of speed and moved around to see what they felt like. Better to do it here than when I hit a snowy patch on the road, I feel. It’s like when I was learning to drive and would hit the brakes in an empty parking lot to get a feel for how the car responded. When I got to work I grabbed an espresso and enjoyed it while getting to work.

3) Whether it’s psychosomatic or real, I notice a huge increase in focus and productivity at work just as my social media participation reduced significantly and I resumed meditation. I remember this happening before as well. So if it’s psychosomatic, it’s repeatably psychosomatic and in any case I really loved feeling productive and on top of everything today.

Good Things in the World:

Last week I saw a post that I almost shared about a man who mowed the lawn of a elderly woman who couldn’t find anyone to care for her lawn and didn’t have the money to pay the $240 fine the city was threatening to give. The video is doubly satisfying – first in its kindness, but also watching the transformation this person does on her yard.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DEpdAGWo-B3/

The man, Spencer, of SB Mowing is apparently a very well known person on TikTok (I had no idea) and it ended up geting over 83 million views and so many people were asking “Can we help this woman?” Well the answer is, yes, Spencer found a way. A GoFundme was started and so far they’ve raised over $500k for this woman.

But even this is, as I’ve talked about before, a big thing – that is actually, at its heart made up of lots of little things. One person mowed a lawn and made some videos, over 21,000 people donated money. The small to moderate efforts of individuals can be hugely amplified in the best of ways.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DEyFS0_KQjK/

Sometimes small efforts, one on one, are exactly what’s needed. Take this post I just saw:

I’m a single dad, at a very low point in life right now. I got home today and found this, made by my daughter.

It’s hard to see, but this is the message she left on my bathroom mirror in dry erase marker.

To: The best person in the world (daddy)!!!

You are the absolute BEST Daddy I’ve EVER seen and I NEVER want you to be sad.

-Leia (source)

And there were two images attached:

Up until recently I had a ton of respect for Dave Grohl. He often seems to be doing good in the world, whether helping out at charity events or inviting young and talented musicians on stage with him to play. But then recently there have been a whole lot of upsetting stories about him from cheating on his partner for decades including fathering a child with someone else.

But still, I’m glad to see him creating good in the world. Lately he’s been feeding families displaced by the California wildfires.

It is an interesting dilemma, isn’t it? I think we really like to think of people in black and white terms. They’re good people or bad. But really, most people are complicated collections of all of good and bad. And so, for all the bad things he has done, I’m still glad to see him, as someone who is very well off and could just relax all day by the pool – in whatever hotel in whatever country he chose, choosing to help people in need.

I’m following a few different people traveling on long journeys by foot. One person is walking around the world and his latest post has him in Amritsar after walking all across India. The second one who I’m sharing now is walking from the UK to Vietnam and is currently in Serbia. While he was there, a dog started following him and stayed with him for a really long time. He posted about it on TikTok and I was shocked to see that within hours they reunited the dog with their owner. I’ll leave you with that today.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DEzfSqMIB-r/