You never know

Most people have some "thing" that weighs on their mind throughout the day. For the most part, while we are consumed with this "thing,"we carry on throughout our day. We don't always talk about what it is with others. We don't always let on that in our minds, we are fighting some deep emotion or incredible need. I'm sure that when Greg wondered the halls at work, people who didn't know him didn't know what anguish he was in. I'm sure that Heather's neighbor's don't know that when she walks past those 6 houses, that she is a grieving mother that is too exhausted to make it past house 7. We don't wear these things on a sign around our neck. Sometimes our faces show some sort of pain or emotion or whatever it is we are consumed with.

I have a friend, that just by being around him, you wouldn't know that he is still grieving the loss of a child due to a miscarriage over a year ago. That same friend, while still sad, is excited about being in the process of adopting. Of course, there is Greg and Heather who just held their baby girl and had to cry for her, grieve and hurt because they never got to really know her. I have a friend she and her husband want a baby so bad that they'd do anything to have one. Most people would never know that she and her husband have done everything they can to have a baby for over 18 months and are still trying. I'd like to think most people who don't know me don't know that I live my life in fear every day due to irrational thoughts of death and disaster. People everyday worry about their marriages that are one step away from failing or their child that has chosen a reckless path in life. There are people who are angry or stressed because they don't know how they are going to pay their bills that month. These people get up, go where ever it is they go, make conversation, smile at others as they pass by and behave like the regular Joe, while in their minds, they are dealing with some issue that could break them like a twig in a second, if they'd let it.

The point is, you don't know what the person next you is going through. If someone seems a little cranky one day, or if they aren't paying attention to your conversation about the funny thing your cat did last night, or they just seem a little off, know that there could be something big weighing on their mind. Something huge. We all need to remind ourselves not to judge other people. Hold the door for someone. Smile at someone you pass in the hall. Compliment a stranger. Do SOMETHING that may make someone feel good. You never know what they are dealing with.