This morning I was sitting in the waiting room of the oncology clinic of a large downtown Chicago hospital, waiting to begin my weekly check-in following my August bone marrow stem cell transplant. 

Today, I chose to focus my attention on the very human drama unfolding around me in the waiting room instead of giving into the temptation of distracting myself by scrolling through emails, news bulletins, and social media posts on my cell phone. 

After several minutes of listening and observing, I heard a couple checking in at the patient registration desk offer to go downstairs, 21 floors below, and bring the receptionist a bottle of orange juice and a sweet roll. 

It’s difficult to describe the flood of gratitude I felt toward this couple for their small, unsolicited act of kindness toward this receptionist. I wouldn’t have wanted to have missed this moment for the world. 

We ignore such acts of kindness at our peril, because every time we do, we diminish our humanity by some small measure.

I was reminded that we each have some freedom to choose, moment by moment, the quality of experience we ingest – through the food we eat, the beverages we drink, and how and where we decide to direct our attention. We can always make better or worse choices, with the goal of minimizing the level of toxicity we allow into our lives.