Do you value kindness? What does kindness look like for you? Kindness is an incredible value. Giving kindness to anyone can change their day with a snap of a finger. Kindness is one of the most special of values because of how powerful it is. There are those who try to use kindness for their own advancement and it never works the way they want it too. Some see it as kindness to tell someone that they look nice or to ingratiate someone by telling them that they are pretty. This is not kindness. Kindness involves genuine compassion and care for others. We have all seen those who pretend to be kind when the world is looking at them. This is not what I am talking about.
Many years ago, I decided to change something about myself. I was fairly young and started noticing that not only were the people I was spending my time with very negative but I was becoming that way too. I caught myself complaining about service that I had received in a restaurant. When I returned home, I made a vow that for the following year, I would not complain about any service I received. I would not give less than the tip percentage that I was supposed to for that service and that I would make every effort to say something positive about all the service I received. I was not always able to do this in writing but I was able to talk to managers when that was not available. That year never stopped. I went even further and bothered to know what the people’s names were when they were giving service to me. I bothered to ask them how their day was going and to wish them well with all of their customers that day. I still do this. That was 36 years ago.
Today, I look for opportunities to do random acts of kindness in yet another way. You see, my spiritual mentors taught me that acts of kindness are most meaningful when they are done and you do not tell anyone you did them. So in keeping with that spirit, I will not tell you what I have done but I will encourage you to perform acts of kindness and do it without recognition. The incredible feeling of being able to help and accept with humility that it is a “God” thing and not a “Me” thing can never be replaced. My spiritual mentors through the years have guided me to remember that it is not my responsibility to perform acts of kindness but it is my gift to do so.
You can carry this forward into your relationships each and every day. Have you done something for someone that you love without them knowing that you did it? Have you taught your children this way of giving to others? Have you, as a family, had discussions about how you can secretly plan to do something special for another family in need? Do these things and you will be blessed beyond measure!
Kari Petruch
The Relationship Reigniter
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