Acts of Kindness

I am always blown away by people doing nice things. It's not that I don't see the good in people because I do. Actually, I expect it and I am hurt when people let me down in this way. I give as much as I can, both money and time to good causes, so when I find someone else in the world that has similar views on charity, reciprocity, and kindness, I'm pleasantly surprised, if not totally floored.
I received a $200 donation from my friend Kern last night. He wanted me to donate this money to the Cocheco Valley Humane Society. I didn't look at the money right away and thought he gave me about $20 or something. Imagine my surprise when I saw two hundred dollar bills in my wallet. He says that he would never be able to do what I do on Sundays because it would break his heart. I tend to agree with him on that.

It is really hard to go into the shelter and see suffering. It is horrible to see the pain inflicted on animals that did nothing but love their owners unconditionally. I have had to turn away many times when I see the physical/emotional ramifications of an owners' neglect or purposeful cruelty both at the shelter and on tv. So what keeps me going? It's the trust that I have earned with a dog named Cammie who isn't a fan of most people/animals/etc, it's the tail wags I get from Rosie who lived her life on a chain and was never properly fed or cared for, and most recently, it was the big kisses I got from Sadie who has a horrible case of mange. Her whole body is covered in scabs and she has large patches of fur loss. Despite all this, she still loves humans, specifically me. I sat in her kennel for about 15 minutes and was covered in slobber from all her loving. Mange isn't hard to treat and it is certainly preventable with a little time and care by the person that should have loved her. So yea, it's hard, sometimes downright heartbreaking to see what humans can do to animals. I go in every Sunday and I will continue to do so for the gained trust, the tail wags, the long walks, the sunshine snuggle time, the slobbery kisses, and the unbelievable perseverance of animals that have no need to trust us humans, but still do.

So to answer the question of how I can do what I do, I pose this question: How can I not?

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it." ~Hellen Keller