"Thing 100"

A while back, someone left a comment on one of my posts. It was buried in the middle of dozens of others, but somehow I saw it right when I needed it.

The woman that had made the comment said that when her cat died in the 80's, she had checked herself into a psych ward and people didn't understand.

At the time, I was falling apart too. Quietly. But her comment gave me the courage to start talking about what I was going through. It made me realize that while my situation was unique, grief was universal. 

That comment was one of the things that kept me here. I couldn’t have told you who she was at the time  - just that her comment was one of a hundred tiny things that combined to give me just enough clarity, to not get on that 'train'.

This morning, she popped up again. She was one of the folks who ordered a product on my site that wasn’t supposed to be live. It wasn't a real product so there was nothing to ship her.

When I reached out to let her know what had happened, something she said in passing, made me realize it was her. I won't ever forget that comment or what it did for me that day.

So I told her that story and that I was sending he the Deluxe bundle. Her response is what this entire journey has been about. It's the thing I realized from the moment I met Sticky. Kindness ripples in ways you will never see. One smile to a stranger at the right time, may grow into someone saving a life, in a place you may have never be or even heard of.

I’m not going to share all of her message here, but I will share this: she thanked me for giving her a little unexpected gift which ended up giving her a little room in an always tight budget. 

She doesn't sound like a woman who feels like she is able to make much of a difference in the world. Like her biggest contribution is volunteering to take care of some foster cats. 

She didn't even know she had been part of saving someone's life. She had no idea she was a hero.

"Surely, one comment couldn't have been the thing that brought you out of that horrible, dark place..."

No. It wasn't. It took a hundred things. A hundred, little, seemingly insignificant things to bring me out of that. It had to be all of those things and it had to be by a certain time. 99 things wouldn't have kept me here if that time had run out. I needed all 100. She was thing 100 - right when I needed it. And she never knew it.

We never know what small kindness might end up being someone else’s "thing 100."
So if you have it in you today - leave the comment. Say the thing. Hit send. Throw out the smile. Hold the door or just say 'Hey' to the stranger in line.

THIS... this is what this whole thing has been about. The biggest message that I think should come from this whole Sticky adventure:

I stopped for a kitten.
So someone else smiled at someone.
So that person held a door open for someone.
So that person… left a supportive comment.
And that comment…
ended up being someone's, Thing 100.

Be someone else's, Thing 100.