Opportunity Knocks

Two years ago yesterday – on October 18^th – a kind man rescued a tiny kitten who’d been glued to a roadway.  That tiny kitten was Sticky the Kitty, and his rescuer Chuck Hawley.  This kind action spurred the Hawley family to create the Sticky the Kitty foundation, and if you haven’t seen this story and the incredible results, I would encourage you to check out their site or Facebook page. 

I’m sometimes a little bit jealous of stories like this.  It’s not that I want all of the “fame” which has gone along with it – I suspect I’d be pretty uncomfortable with that.  What I envy is the opportunity.  The opportunity to see a wrong, and to right it.  To achieve that goal which is key to everything I do: to make a difference.

I don’t seem to be the person who finds a taped box in the woods full of tiny puppies, or who finds a litter of kittens in a window well.  Or the person who talks someone considering suicide off a ledge … you know.  It’s not that I’m not willing to do those things.  They just don’t seem to find me.

But you know, other things do.  Things like Reese (from What You See and It’s Normal for Me), who showed up at the door hoping to be loved.  Things like listening to a friend – or a stranger – when they need an ear.  Things like offering a ride, a truck, a garage to someone who needs a hand.  These are things I can give, and I do. 

My goal is to be the person I needed when things were rough.  Not that there weren’t people who helped me – there were, and I still think of them.  But there was so much more that I needed, and that others probably need.  That’s who I try to be – a filler of gaps.

You see, little things do make a difference – as the saying goes, “If you think you’re too small to make a difference, you’ve never been in a tent with a mosquito!”.  And while I’d like to do the big things – you know, like finding abandoned puppies and kittens -  I’m also grateful for the opportunities I do have.  Opportunities to listen.  To lead.  To set an example, or to be there in what I see as little ways.

Isn’t that where perspective comes in, though?  I recently did what I considered a small thing to help a friend.  I felt it wasn’t much but was glad to do it.  She, on the other hand, considered what I had done to be huge, and felt it made a large difference for her.  That’s the thing, really:  something small could mean the world to another person. 

I keep coming back to this, it’s important.  Be kind.  Do the little things.  Hold the doors, dry the tears, listen or smile.  You never know how much impact that might have on someone else.