One wish

Sometimes ordinary days give way to moments of wonder that make you ponder.

I had one of those moments on an early morning walk in spring. The air was cool and calm. Birds called out to one another from their hidden perches. Dew sparkled in the light. All was fresh, green, and new.

Except when it wasn't. I stooped down to pick up a candy wrapper carelessly dropped along the pathway. And in so doing, I saw a wish -- a pervasive, tenacious dandelion weed gone to seed.

Like generations of children before and after me, I made a wish on the seed pod and blew countless future dandelions into the air. I resist most of the time because ... well, my husband can't stand them in our lawn. But in that place, at that moment, it did not matter. I made a wish and blew!

No one knows the origin of this childhood tradition. Did it begin as a child's game? Or is it rooted in ancient superstition, similar to "loves me; loves me not"? My mama told me finding a seed head brought good luck, and that if all the seeds blew away on the wind your wish would come true.

Want to know what I wished for?

You'll find the answer in a hymn: Scatter Seeds of Kindness by Mrs. Albert Smith (May Riley Smith). It admonishes:

Let us gather up the sunbeams, Lying all around our path; Let us keep the wheat and roses, Casting out the thorns and chaff; Let us find our sweetest comfort In the blessings of today, With a patient hand removing All the briers from the way.

Then scatter seeds of kindness, Then scatter seeds of kindness, Then scatter seeds of kindness, For our reaping by and by.

Did you know there's a foundation devoted to kindness? The Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Foundation. You can join the foundation and become a RAKtivist® -- people who are intentionally kind and selfless. There are nearly 20,000 RAKtivists and growing. But RAK isn't exclusive. Anyone can practice random acts of kindness. The foundation devotes a lot of time freely sharing their kindness ideas and the science-backed benefits of being kind.

Like Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip, says:

Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.

To quote the Dalai Lama:

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.

I hope my wish circles around the world, spreading seeds of kindness everywhere. And it doesn't take luck for that wish to come true. Just me. And just you.

Photo by NiklasPntk, cc-by-sa-2.0.