10/11/2024
In 6 seconds you can kiss someone like you mean it.
In 6 seconds you can hold open a door.
In 6 seconds you can wait for someone. “Take your time,” you can even say.
In 6 seconds you can take a deep breath.
In 6 seconds you can let it go.
In 6 seconds you can tuck a note in a lunchbox or a pocket. It takes 2 seconds to draw a heart.
In 6 seconds you can say you’re sorry.
In 6 seconds you can cut yourself some slack.
In 6 seconds you can ditch that picture, that pair of pants, that inner bully that keeps you from loving this day, this you.
In 6 seconds you can feel the sunshine.
In 6 seconds you decide it’s time to stop looking back.
In 6 seconds you can whisper, “It’s gonna be okay,” to yourself or someone who’s scared.
I used to sound like a broken record. “I don’t have time,” I’d always say.
But then I realized what could happen in a mere
6 seconds.
It’s enough to make a bad day good …
It’s enough to bring life back to your weary bones …
It’s enough to remember what really matters in the midst of so much that doesn’t.
It's enough to save a life.
-Rachel Macy Stafford, from my book
🩸 I went to a blood drive yesterday. The phlebotomist on the cozy bloodmobile handed me a stress ball and said, “Squeeze this every five seconds to keep the blood pumping. It helps speed up the donation process.”
Being aware of the power of 6 seconds, I did that instead. It worked like a charm.
⏰ My friends, in 6 seconds, we can put back into the world what fear and hate threaten to take away: inclusion, kindness, compassion, acceptance, hope, and love. These commodities are not too scarce, and the world is not too big. I have 6 seconds. Do you? Let’s use them to send a ripple of goodness out into the world today.
