Francis Gay

Una starts every day with a sprinkling of sunshine

When we hit a rock, On the path we climb, It’s easy to give up, Instead take the time, For the path may be bumpy, And it’s easy to just stop, But remember the best view, Is always from the top.

The company Una works for has moved online recently, which means she doesn’t get to see so much of her work-mates.

So, every morning as she logs on, Una sends each of them a motivational message or an inspirational picture.

Those always-sunshine-and-light people... aren’t they really annoying?

Actually, Una isn’t really like that. She told me she’d been dealing with a range of emotional issues, and learning along the way. “The best way I’ve found to have good day,” she told me, “is to start it off by helping others have a good day. It only takes five minutes and if it lifts more than just my heart, it’s well worth the effort.”

She lifted my heart just telling me about it. Imagine if more of us started the day shining bright for others. We might, eventually, become one of those always-sunshine-andlight people! Would that be too annoying?

Bob had heard Dave was stressed, so he texted him, inviting his neighbour outside for an over-thegarden-fence chat.

Talking is great therapy, but despite enjoying their regular chats and knowing it would help, Dave suddenly became “too busy”.

Twenty minutes later, another message arrived. Bob said he had left an “emergency stress-buster” on the fence post.

Curious, Dave went straight out. On the post was a book Bob knew he would like, and a strawberry tart.

“I must have looked like a fool, laughing out loud – with appreciation – in my garden,” Dave told me. “But my worries and pressures evaporated at that moment!”

Now, he’s looking forward to giving Bob an over-thefence book review!

Whether it’s ourselves, or someone else suffering, we all need to take stress seriously. But just not always in a serious way.

My young neighbour (and buddy) Blake is four and has just started pre-school.

I met him on his way home and, seeing how excited he was, I asked what had been the best thing about his day.

“I looked after someone today,” he told me. “Wow!” I replied. “You must be a hero!”

“I’m a superhero,” he explained. “That’s what superheroes do – they look after people.”

I couldn’t argue with that, so I settled for adding another “Wow!” He waved it away, grinning modestly, and saying: “It’s nothing!”

Actually, for superheroes it probably is nothing. Because they have all those powers. But it would still be a wonderful thing for the ones being looked after.

And, if you ever secretly wished you did have the power to make people feel like that, Blake’s here to remind you that you do!

We all do, but will need to be quick in case Blake beats us to it. If I told you he paid for someone’s coffee in the cancer centre’s cafe, you might think: “That’s nice…” If I told you he was a volunteer driver and didn’t want any credit, you might think: “What a nice man.” The cafe is “card-only” so when the couple in front of him didn’t have a card, he added their bill to his, almost without a thought. I say “almost” because he was taking another chance to pay forward a kindness done for him – 50 years ago! How many had he helped in the name of that initial kindness? Too many to remember, apparently. Imagine he had a similar effect in the hearts of each of those he helped. How many people might be adding kindness to the world in the name of paying it forward now? When he told me: “It wasn’t much,” I had to disagree. It was huge. It was wonderful!