November 13
Life is short, and we have not much time to gladden the hearts of those who walk the way with us. So be swift to love, make haste to be kind – today, on this one day that is yours.
Journal intime (freely rendered)
Listening mode
Life is short, and we have not much time to gladden the hearts of those who walk the way with us. So be swift to love, make haste to be kind – today, on this one day that is yours.
Kindness is seldom put off out of indifference. More often it is because you want to give it a fitting form. The thanks shouldn't sound offhand, the apology shouldn't be too brief, and the praise shouldn't sound like mere politeness. So you wait for a quieter moment, for the right words and for an occasion that does justice to the feeling.
This standard is not wrong. It shows that something matters to you. Over time, though, it shifts the weight. The longer you search for the right form, the more the gesture becomes a task you want to do well. Whether it does the other person any good now recedes into the background.
The other person notices nothing of your care. All that reaches them is what you actually say or do. While you are still polishing, that is nothing.
A sentence said quickly may come out clumsy. It arrives on the wrong evening, or is too brief or too grand. Perhaps you ask later how it was received, and explain yourself once more.
Then you are already in conversation.
