Clear the Air

The simplest words can lift burdens you’ll never see.

Somewhere between their first steps, the first day of kindergarten, and their first drive, we parents begin to realize something:

The chapter of raising our children is slowly coming to a close.

And with it come the questions.

Will they make good decisions? Did we prepare them well enough? Will they find their people….and their way?

I quietly wrestled with these questions a couple weeks ago as Beth and I drove our second-born, Patrick, to Lakeland University. You’d think this trip with the second child would be easier or less emotional.

It wasn’t.

As if emotions weren’t already running high, our drive north became increasingly unsettling as smoke from the Canadian wildfires drifted south. With the air quality index at historically dangerous levels and visibility perilously low, we considered turning around.

Thankfully, as the afternoon wore on, the wind shifted, the smoke dissipated, and visibility returned.

We arrived on campus, grabbed Patrick’s things, and headed toward the student union. But I still felt significant anxiety.

And that’s when it happened.

Walking in the opposite direction was a university administrator. She stopped in her tracks, smiled from ear to ear, and called out, “Oh my gosh… Patrick! I’m so glad you chose Lakeland. You’re going to love it here.”

After a short conversation with her, we continued toward orientation, but now with relaxed smiles on our faces. A conversation she likely had already forgotten made us feel seen instead of overlooked, excited instead of anxious.

And here’s the beautiful part, my friends: You don’t need to be a university administrator to change someone’s day.

The challenge is that many of us spend so much of our lives wondering whether we’ll fit in that we miss countless opportunities to help someone else realize they already do. We spend so much time wrestling with anxiety over our own lives that we miss chances to alleviate the fear in someone else’s.

Today, you can be the neighbor who knows the child’s name. The teacher who makes the student feel special. The friend who sends the encouraging text. The parent who puts down the phone and offers their full attention.

Your smile, your words, your encouragement. That can be the reminder to someone else that their life matters.

Because you never know what burden another person is carrying, or how close they are to believing they don’t belong, until you remind them that they do.

In a world that often feels clouded by fear and uncertainty, one small act of kindness can change the atmosphere.

Sometimes, that’s all it takes to clear the air.

Today is your day.  Live Inspired.