As most people in our lives know, Karen was very very sick in late November and early December. She spent 6 days in a critic care unit at Sunnyside Hospital. It was a very scary experience for both of us. Nothing is worse than being so sick or watching someone you love be so sick, and not being able to just will them to get better. It was terrifying actually. Then… she got better. It was wonderful. And the reason she got better was because of the great work of the people at the hospital. They did their jobs well and they did them with grace and by truly caring for Karen as their patient.

A couple of weeks ago I sent a letter/email to the nurse manager of the unit Karen was on. I’d kept a list of all the people who worked with Karen during her time there and wanted to let the management know, and the staff themselves, how much their work mattered to us. How much it meant. How much we appreciated them and how grateful we were.

I thought to myself… you know, people don’t say a genuine thank you enough. They just don’t. We aren’t always the most considerate of a species. We should be. We should say thank you when someone does a great job waiting the table or pumping the gas (for all you Oregonian’s out there) or giving us a smile as they check our groceries at the store. We should say thank you when we are treated with kindness and a smile at the doctor’s office or when someone we don’t know holds the door for us. We should appreciate these things. We should smile. We shouldn’t take it all for granted.

Everyone is quick to get testy. To be annoyed. To judge, to make fun of, to rant about what they see as little slights. We tend to be so negative as a people. Why is that?

I say let’s get on the happy train. Sounds silly? It’s not. Let’s start noticing what’s right and beautiful and worth while in the world. Let’s concentrate on that. Let’s be awed and inspired and thankful.

I’m not saying we should ignore what’s wrong or put up with things we shouldn’t. I’m just saying we ALSO need to notice what’s good and honest and wonderful. Beautiful gracious things happen every day. People do things every day that are helpful and caring. So let’s concentrate on that. Put our focus there. Notice. I wonder what would happen. I wonder what would happen if when we looked up and around we saw the trees moving in the wind and the smile on a mother’s face as she talked to her child and how lovely it is to just be here, alive, living… being happy in this moment. I wonder what would happen if we all did it…. if we all noticed… how the world might change for the better. We need to celebrate our spirit our tenacity our willingness to step in for each other and our caring selves. It’s a wonderful place, this world is. Wonderful things happen all the time. It would be a place of even greater wonder if we all just considered being a bit more considerate.