Never Too Much

 

“How was your Thanksgiving?”  The dental hygienist asked me as she lined up the instruments of torture on a tray.

“It was pretty good,” I said.  “We had plenty of food and good company.”  I always want a hygienist to be in the best mood possible when she is working on my teeth.

“Almost all of our leftovers are gone,” she said, as I opened my mouth.  I grunted what I hoped sounded like an interested noise.  I have found conversations in dentist’s offices to be surprisingly one sided.

“You know what leftovers we never have enough of?”  She asked me and once again I made my attempt at a grunt.  This time I hoped it sounded like “I dunno.” 

She paused then said dramatically “Gravy!  Gravy is what we never have enough of.  I’ve discovered you can never have too much gravy!”

I couldn’t imagine this state of affairs.  There are many things in this world that I appreciate more than gravy.  Gravy is just something you put on other food, like meat or mashed potatoes, to enhance its flavor.  It’s like saying, “My favorite food is ketchup!”  (or ranch dressing or horse radish sauce).

I know that there are foods that our family can hardly have enough of.  At the end of the summer there is never any extra okra left over.  We never seem to have extra Mint Oreo Ice Cream (or any other flavor of ice cream for that matter).  I don’t think I’ve ever had apple pie too frequently either -- I'm sure it could happen, it just hasn't so far in my relatively short lifetime.

I wonder about what things we can never have sufficient of in our lives.  I’m afraid that too often our focus is on things that are relatively unimportant. 

Some statements that simply aren’t true:

“You can never have too many kitchen gadgets."

“You can never have too many followers on Instagram.”

“You can never win too many arguments on Facebook.”

Most of the things this world values are transitory and of little value and yet, they feel – they feel -- terribly important.  Influencers take the stage for their 12 and 1/2 minutes of fame and a short million likes later they get dumped by the way side.  

The things that really endure and make a difference can’t be seen with our eyes or held in our hands.

Over the last year, people have tried to store up a variety of things that were in short supply at the beginning of COVID -- these included toilet paper and hand sanitizer.  Now, I can definitely see the importance of toilet paper and appreciate its presence in our home, but there are things even more important than that.

If there is one thing that is in seriously short supply and everyone should stock pile, it is kindness.  Simply put, kindness is thinking about others and their feelings and needs and then making the conscious decision to say the right thing or act in the best way to meet those needs.

Our world is full to the brim with technology.  We can order anything online with the click of a button and yet, the most important things are both free and priceless.

Making the effort to be kind our dealings with others makes the world a better place.  Kindness is taking time to listen.  Kindness is sitting down and writing a note of thanks.  Kindness is smiling at at the frustrated woman with acting up kids in the grocery store and letting her go in front of you in line.  Kindness is choosing not to comment on a Facebook post that riles you inside.

You can have too much Mint Oreo Ice Cream.

You can even have too much gravy.

You can never have too much kindness.