I've been struggling at work with new leadership ushering in authoritarian rule. After yet another contentious meeting, a coworker that I hired a few years ago set up some time on my calendar. He wanted to check in with me, so he let me bitch and moan. Then he told me how much I mean to him.

The empathy he showed was amazing. I'm touched nearly to tears as the kindness that I paid to him over the years has paid dividends. And the timing couldn't have been better. I have been an angry little monster this morning.