Good Friday evening! Couldn’t you use a little more kindness? Couldn’t the world? Where will it begin, if not with you and me.
This affirmation reminds you to choose kindness today, not because you “have to be kind,” but because you know it’s the best space live in. Start with yourself and work outwards.
Have a beautiful evening, my friends!
Ray
I’ve been on about a ten year mission to test an idea. I believe that when we take a moment to make eye contact with others, we see their humanity and remind them of ours.
It doesn’t work 100 percent of time. Some people will refuse or avoid making eye contact. Others will look away and then glance to see if you’re making eye contact.
In that moment when it happens, I often observe a breath and a smile from the other person. There’s something reassuring in knowing someone actually sees you. Ive seen it instantly change someone’s mood and shift conversation beyond surface pleasantries.
Many of us conduct five, 10, 50 interactions a day. There’s a tendency these exchanges to be mechanical an not very human. The checkout clerk at the grocery store and you put on your employee and customer role masks and conduct the transaction.
It’s enough to make us forget we’re engaged with another complex human being with a whole life beyond this transaction. It can allow us to see the line of customers as just a number or the checkout clerk as someone with the job to satisfy me and to let them have it if they don’t.
I take a different strategy. I ask them how their day’s going in a way that sounds like I care. I accept that the store, the restaurant, the bank can make errors and I’m prepared to give them the grace and the space to fix it.
Finally, I always close the transaction with a smile, eye contact, and a sincere thank you. Even if all they did is ring up two items. People aren’t thanked enough for what they do. They aren’t smiled at enough. They aren’t connected with the eyes enough.
We live in a world that seems to strip our humanity and steal the connections that make us all human.
This is one small way rehumanize each other in small doses throughout the day.
Wherever you are on your journey today, be proud of the progress you’re making.
Ray
Nice. Kind. Generous. Selfless. You get the idea. I challenge you to give back today in big ways or small as you see fit. When you’ve given a little back, do something nice for you.
Here’s the mission; should you choose to accept. Be the ambassador of all things kind today.
Let’s, you and me, create a ripple of nice in the world today. I’d say it needs it, wouldn’t you? If not us, who? If not now, when?
When you’re done, I’d love to hear your story in the comments below.
Have a day, that at the end, you’ll be able to say, “Nicely done.”
Ray
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Happy National Random Acts of Kindness Day! This ought to be every day, right? Paying it forward is one of my favorite random acts of kindness? Please leave a comment below and share your favorite.
Here are some #rayquotes on kindness. I’ve coined these on Twitter over the years. Get our there and BE KIND!
Image: Courtesy Pixabay.com
Ray
Today we continue discussing some of the bullet points in Sunday’s post.- 10 Empowering Ideas. Today we’re up to the bullet on kindness.
There’s a popular saying, “Karma is a bitch.” It’s one of those sayings that conveys popular mindsets. Karma does not have to be a bitch. Karma is whatever you plant in the world coming back to you as surely as tomorrow’s sunrise.
A very wise person once noted that you can count the seeds in an apple, but you cannot count the apples in a seed. The thoughts you think, the words you say, the actions you take; all plant the seeds of potential futures. It’s the law of the universe that the fruits of the seeds you plant come back to you.
Looking at life this way, you will make every effort to plant positive seeds and not negative ones. With this in mind, you might act more kindly. Treat others better. Look people in the eye, connect, and say, “Thank you.”
The following story demonstrates how a seed planted with kindness can bear positive fruit many years later. Enjoy.
GLASS OF MILK
One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry.
He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water! She thought he looked hungry so brought him a large glass of milk.
He drank it so slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?”
“You don’t owe me anything,” she replied. “Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness.”
The boy said, “Then I thank you from my heart.”
As Howard Kelly left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was strong also. He had been ready to give up and quit.
Many years later that same young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease.
Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes.
Immediately he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to her room. Dressed in his doctor’s gown he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. Dr. Kelly returned to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day, he gave special attention to her case.
After a long struggle, the battle was won.
Dr. Kelly asked business office to pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge and the bill was sent to her room.
She feared to open it because she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally, she looked and something caught her attention on the side of the bill.
She read these words –
“Paid in full with one glass of milk.”
Signed,
Dr. Howard Kelly
Many people plant seeds in their lives mindlessly. Plant yours consciously and kindly and amazing things are headed your way. You see, for every action in the universe, as we know it, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Some simply call this karma.
Build your karma of kindness.
Ray
The Affirmation Spot Blog 
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