Borrowing kindness.

It's been too long since I've posted. To be honest, I've been at a loss for kind words. I simply haven't had it in me. I know that's such a cop out, but there it is. I have no ideas for random acts of kindness; or if I do, I'm not going to dig for them. Fortunately for me, some local morning talk show hosts did my work for me.

This morning on Austin's Mix 94.7's J.B. & Sandy Morning show, the hosts were sifting through e-mails from the disgruntled, complaining about a plethora of issues, most of them quite petty. "You said 'sex'! My kids were in the car!"
Sandy's response? "Parent your kids." Maybe those words aren't kind, but maybe truth isn't always kind.

It was apparent the hosts were annoyed, and can you blame them? They made the very valid point that in the time it took the person to write their annoyances onto paper they could have written a loved one a nice note telling them how much they care for and appreciate them.

Imagine what a difference each one of us could make in random people's lives by taking the time to choose not only to do something unkind, but to instead replace that unkind act with an oppositely kind one?

J.B. told a story about a time at a Chinese restaurant when he asked to speak to the manager. Before the conversation even began the manager was immediately on the defense, understandably assuming that J.B. was just their to tell him how to run his restaurant. Surprisingly, he was there to compliment the manager and tell him how enjoyable his experience was.

So I'll leave you with this thought: why are we more prone to take the time to point out someone's shortcomings than we are to point out what they're doing right.

In the words of Marty McFly, "This is heavy." I can definitely fill my mind on this food for thought, and hopefully put it into practice.

Send a letter, a real letter to someone in your life that means a lot to you but might need a little reminder of the fact.

Say "hi" to three people you don't know. And smile.