I came across it when my mother died. Going through the obligatory paperwork, letters, and odds and ends, I found a list scrawled on a creased envelope among old bills and receipts. I held it in my hand, transported back to the day, many years ago, when I was young. I had given my mom an article from the Reader’s Digest that had caught my fancy entitled “Bloom Where You Are Planted.” It was a reader’s true story of her Aunt Rose, I believe was her name, a maiden aunt who created a daily list to keep her going after her true love died in World War I. My eyes glistened with tears as I read aloud my mom’s own interpretation in her handwriting of what to do each day:
1. Do Something for Someone Else
Well, this seems easy enough. Even if it’s a compliment to the checkout clerk at the grocery store, or a smile to a stranger. Even better, holding a door open for someone, or taking a deep breath and allowing the cranky driver to cut impatiently in front of you on a busy trafficky afternoon when you yourself are in a hurry. Putting the dishes in the sink for a family member. ... OK, done.2. Do Something for Yourself
This will be hard for many of us. Stressed-out parents, teachers, and health care workers are by nature those who give give give, with little or no thought of taking time out for a relaxing walk, a nap, a massage, or even a treat. Shakespeare wrote [in “Henry V”], “Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin as self-neglecting,” and if we do for ourselves, love ourselves, we can better serve others. Charity really begins with loving and taking care of ourselves.3. Do Something That Needs to Be Done That You Don’t Want to Do
A tough one for me! Picking up the dog poop, laundry, taxes, dishes, the list is endless. Homework, housework, answering emails or texts or letters. We can procrastinate all we want, and those chores will still stubbornly exist. It’s amazing that once you get up and “get it done,” the next thing doesn’t seem so hard.
The note found by reader Nancy Jane Smeets. Courtesy of Nancy Jane Smeets
