Being Kind

I have been thinking about kindness lately. I believe in being kind to others. I guess that makes sense, since I am a therapist and I value helping others. The employee, Jim at Starbucks is kind. When he overheard me say it was my birthday last September, he gave me my iced coffee on him. The woman behind me in line at Starbucks today was mighty surprised, when I bought her cup of tea, just to be nice. My son felt great today giving his teacher a handmade card, in honor of being kind. She told him that his card "made her year." I suppose it didn't hurt that he wrote that she is the best teacher in the whole wide world. We are always touched by random acts of kindness. It restores our faith in life. We always remember when someone does something nice for us. I have a client who brings me a coffee, because his sessions are early and he knows I am always running late. The coffee assures both of us that I will be somewhat alert and manage to pay attention during the session. One of my favorite movies is, "Its A Wonderful Life." The movie is a reminder that we all make a difference and that in the end, his kindness brought kindness back to him tenfold. In the uplifting movie, "Pay It Forward," the boy helps others by doing something nice for someone and telling them to pay it forward. I always try to be kind to people around me. I will run an errand to help someone, bring my kids a slushy while they are at summer camp, or just plain go out of my way to help anyone. When I was pregnant with my third child, I had a flat tire in the fast lane on the Interstate. A stranger pulled over and insisted on changing my tire. His act of kindness came from a tragedy. It turns out that his sister was killed while sitting in her car waiting for a tow truck to come change her tire. I am always astounded however, when kindness does not come naturally to people. Often people just get so caught up in themselves and their own lives, that they don't even notice all of the people needing some kindness around them. I love what I do for a living, because at the end of the day, I feel good that I am helping others. Everyone can get that feeling, just by offering small or large acts of kindness. It feeds the spirit and makes you feel good! Here are some inspiring quotes about kindness. "I prefer you to make mistakes in kindness than work miracles in unkindness (Mother Teresa)." "My religion is simple. My religion is kindness (Dalai Lama)." "Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you (Princess Diana)." "A laugh, to be joyous, must flow from a joyous heart, for without kindness, there can be no true joy (Thomas Carlyle)." "As much as we need a prosperous economy, we also need a prosperity of kindness and decency (Caroline Kennedy)." "As I've gotten older, I've had more of a tendency to look for people who live by kindness, tolerance, compassion, a gentler way of looking at things (Martin Scorsese)." Kindness acts much like love.....it melts anger and dissipates tension. It should be like a mantra, one that you live by each and every day until its a habit. So, have fun being kind. I loved the look on the lady's face when I bought her tea. It was great fun surprising my niece and nephew several weeks ago when I flew to California to celebrate their birthdays with them. I especially love surprising my kids with random acts of kindness. It teaches them that kindness is a way of life. Today when they gave donuts to their classes and cards to their teachers, they received the rewards too, because they felt good and enjoyed being kind. Who can you surprise and make smile, just by doing something kind?