of mallards and malaise

I sometimes wonder how many times any given person or animal has saved a life without knowing it.

With this photo at the back of my mind, I went to a nearby pond today and fed the ducks some bits from my sandwich. Within minutes, I heard the sound of footsteps and children's voices on the walkway. I had the urge to get up and leave, but I stayed put and kept throwing bread. Two toddlers soon descended upon me and starting talking, and asked if they could feed the birds too. So I gave bits of bread to each of them, apologizing that it was sticky from the peanut butter. When I had to go back to work, they looked so sad, and said "No!" and "Why?", so I offered them the rest of the sandwich to feed the birds with. They accepted without hesitation and I could hear them chatting to the ducks as I walked away - calling over the ones who were further off so that everyone could be fed.

I've had moments of feeling direly hopeless lately but it makes all the difference to know that I brightened up the day - even by a tiny bit - for some animals and some people, who in turn brightened up the day for each other. Kindness is an unpredictable force: it ripples out from someplace unknown and ripples onward from us whether we want it to or not. It's hard to say who's received the most.

“In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” - Albert Schweitzer