“All you have to do is ask.” Well, that’s how I got the key in the first place– I simply asked. It arrived in a beautiful box, wrapped in scented tissue and sprinkled with hope. Or faith. Or maybe just simply well wishes. It was kind of hard to tell, what with the fragrance of rose petals drifting up… whatever the case, the key was given with love, and that was for certain.
The puzzle was figuring out what the key unlocked. What is its function? What do I use it for? These questions nagged at me for days.
I placed the key by my bed in hopes it would talk to me during my sleeping hours. Yet even after asking it kindly, the key remained silent during the darkness of the night and did not – or would not – infiltrate my dreams.
I sat with it often in the quiet moments, and pleaded with it to tell me what it unlocked. Still, the key remained steadfast in its silence.
Determined and unwilling to give up, I took the key into a sunlit area on a cold winter’s day. I sat cross legged, key in hands, with the sun warming my back. As I held the key, I imagined myself melding with it, becoming one. As we became one unit, I said, “What do we unlock?”
The key said, “It’s up to you – what do you want? What to you hope for? What do you need?”
All of a sudden, single words came falling down on my head like heavy droplets of rain. “Kindness.” “Creativity.” “Hope.” “Abundance.” “Love.”
Then sentences came to me in whirling cyclones of words, rushing toward my ears. “I need strong relationships.” “I want opportunity to travel.” “I wish for good health and well-being.”
More and more came rushing at me – single words, longer sentences. Affirmations. Hopes. Dreams. Wants. Needs. The air around me was busy and full of energy. There was too much to sort through – how would I narrow it down to just one item… one focus?
I opened my eyes. It was too much. I had to walk away. I put the key down and walked. The day was quiet, the cold had chased everyone indoors.
Step after step, I searched for answers. The key definitely held the potential to unlock so many things. I was overwhelmed with possibility. I felt more lost than before I received the key. What was I do with it? Which door would it unlock?
As I walked through the neighborhood it dawned on me: look through the keyhole. See what’s on the other side. I turned around and headed for home. It was time to do some peeking.
I put the key in another room. For being such a quiet key, he was awfully noisy all of a sudden. I needed quiet. I needed focus. I needed distance from the key.
With that in mind, I sat back down and fell into the sun’s warm embrace. I closed my eyes and focused on the keyhole. In my mind’s eye, I approached the door. I bent down, took a deep breath in and let it out, then peered through the keyhole. As I searched the empty room, my eye spotted a word above the fireplace. One single word, written in pink.
Kindness.
I backed up away from the door, my answer in hand. The key unlocked kindness… in me. Around me. Above me. Below me. Kindness.
It’s really very simple, isn’t it? Kindness begets kindness. And kindness opens up a world of possibilities… I can’t wait to begin my adventure in kindness – of journeys into the Pay It Forward randomness of life. Of uttering compliments to strangers. Of jumping out of the walls my shyness has built up and just becoming more… of saying more. Of doing more.
Kindness. It really is the key to everything, isn’t it?
