Message #16885

[Serena Duvet]

“There is no beautifier of complexion, or form, or behavior,
like the wish to scatter joy and not pain around us.”

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sometimes it's easier to practice kindness with strangers.  My mother used to say, "Say something nice to someone - make their day."  It might be acknowledging the checker at the market, engaging them with eye contact, making a comment about their good job, and saying "Thank you." for their help.  Or, if I reach down and pick up something someone else has dropped,  or pick up trash on the sidewalk, or while driving, giving someone the right-of-way.

Small acts of kindness like these, either done by me or someone else, serve to elevate my state.  Of course the small acts of not-kindness, the "me first" attitude serves to generate the opposite, bringing me down, whether it be an act of my own, or say, someone cutting me off in traffic. 

But, it's when no one else is around that I feel I see myself the most... if I volunteer to make the world a little bit better by cleaning up, picking up that bit of trash, I do feel a little something. 

Remember that bumper sticker?  "Practice random acts of kindness." ?  That's a positive suggestion!