Canceled. If you’re anything like me, you’ve been struggling with the fact that most, if not all, of the things you were looking forward to this spring are wiped off your calendar. In the span of a few short days, my planner for March and April went from a rainbow of colored highlights to pages full of ugly, scratched-out pen marks.

Sometimes reality throws us a curveball, and we never get to choose when or how. However, we do get to choose what we do about it.

In the midst of the turmoil and chaos surrounding us all, it can make us feel hopeless and helpless. I mean, come on, it’s called a global pandemic for a reason. What can one person do?

Instead of asking yourself that question, try switching “one person” to “I.” Change the hopelessness to helpfulness. What can I do?

In the words of Edward Everett Hale, “I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.”

What is the “something” that I can do to bring hope to a terrified world? What is the “something” that you can do? We aren’t all medical professionals, so we can’t necessarily be those heroes on the front lines. That doesn’t mean we can’t all bring hope and kindness in our own small ways.

While just about everything seems canceled these days, kindness isn’t. You and I can be kind, even at a distance. We can be kind by keeping this distance physically, but it doesn’t have to stop at that. Call a friend that you know is struggling with the separation. Text that person you haven’t talked to in a long time, but whose friendship you’d like to rekindle. Write a note to your grandparents and send it in the mail.

When you do make that venture out into the world for necessities, be kind to the cashier at the grocery store. Thank the worker who delivers your food curbside. Most of us have a good idea of how we could show kindness in our own communities and to our own families; we just need to follow through with action.

This is a hard world, friends. Let’s not make it harder. How about we go put some kindness on our calendars?