You like me

When Sally Field won her first Academy Award in 1980 for her role in Norma Rae, she said from the stage, "You like me, right now, you like me!"  I can still see her beaming with happiness.  It is a wonderful feeling to know that you are liked.  One of the kindest things we can do is to let people know how important they are to us.  Who do you really like?  Have you ever told them so?

Kindness always

Be kind today, and tomorrow, and the following day.  Be kind this week and next.  Be kind this fall and this winter.  Be kind next year.  Kindness always!

Here's an alarming idea

Today, don't just be kind, be extra kind.  Set an alarm to go off frequently (hourly if you can) during the day and then when that happens stop what you are doing and text, call, email, or otherwise contact someone in your life and tell them what they mean to you.  If your workday just won't accommodate this, do it in the hours after work!

Just one

Any day when I know that I made someone happy is a good day.  I don't have to make the whole world happy or even all the people in my town.  Just one.  Just one person, and now I am happy too.  Of course I always try for more than one, but just one is all it takes!

Go ahead

Remember the catchphrase spoken by the character Harry Callahan in the movie Sudden Impact?  "Go ahead, make my day!"  Well today, make someone's day.  No, not like in the movie.  Just do something kind.  There are so many possibilities.  In fact I think together we can make many people's day!

Memorial Day

In the quiet of this Memorial Day, we pause to honor those who gave their all. Your legacy lives in every heartbeat of this nation. You kind and caring act has touched every single one of us and this nation is grateful.

The e-card and the gift card

Some of us are fortunate to have some very kind people in our lives.  Yesterday I received an email from a dear person who lives far from me.  His emails are always uplifting and positive.  That is not all though.  He also sent me a lovely e-card and attached a gift card for use at a local store.  It wasn't my birthday or any sort of special occasion.  His kindness though is the very thing I encourage here, and I am grateful.

Kind people in your life

With each day I try to be a kinder person.  I encourage kindness here every morning in these short messages.  In your life though, is there a lot of kindness?  Who are the kindest people you know?  Are they folks you want to imitate?

We are the change

Today seems like an appropriate time to remember the wise words of former President Barack Obama, who said "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."

On the Road

Remember the late CBS newsman Charles Kuralt, who did those wonderful "On the Road" segments? Mr Kuralt once said "The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines."

Kindness can change the world

In my opinion, kindness can change the world, and so I not only want to be a kind person myself, but I want to urge others to be kind as well.  Have you ever heard anyone complain about a kind act?  Kindness is always looked upon with positive feelings.

friendship that has caught fire

Remember the advice columnist Ann Landers? She always had such wise words! One very inspiring thing from her: "Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses."  I really like that picture she gave us.  "Friendship that has caught fire" - what a wonderful image!

Be kind

The message is really quite simple:  Be kind.  There are so many different ways of doing it, but the result if always the same.  Being kind really does make a difference.  If you don't think you are a kind person, practice.  We can all get better at it!

Miss Sally

I remember back when I was in grade school, this wonderful lady whom we called Miss Sally would come and pick us up for church on Sunday mornings. She drove a very old car that she had probably purchased fifty years before, but it still ran nicely, possibly because she only drove it one day a week. Miss Sally always had some kind of pastry or cookies to share after church too. With a warm sparkle in her eye, I'll never forget her kindness, even now looking back to MANY years ago!

Ella

I always enjoyed the music of Ella Fitzgerald, but it wasn't just her wonderful singing, Ella said some pretty inspiring thing too. She said "Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong."  I agree.

Warming my heart

Warming my heart is a pretty easy task.  When I see kindness, however big or small, it always makes me feel good.  When I know that someone is smiling because of something I did, it warms my heart.  I really think the kindness movement is spreading!  Heartwarming indeed.

take care of yourself

When you are in good health and full of energy, it is so much easier to be kind.  Exercise, eat right, drink plenty of water, and get regular medical checkups.  In other words, take care of yourself!  Being kind certainly includes being kind to YOU!

It doesn't have to be special

Being kind isn't just performing some random act for someone else.  It's a way of life.  Kindness is something that should always be with us.  It doesn't have to be special but at the same time it is very special.

Here comes the rain again

Rain.  We need it, but most of us don't like getting caught out in it.  When a storm comes up suddenly, and you get soaked, that certainly isn't pleasant.  I remember years ago when a popup storm was pouring down on people.  A man rain into a store and bought dozens of umbrellas, which he then handed out for free.  Now that's kindness!

Everyone

Everyone deserves love, kindness and respect. Everyone. That includes you.

Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day, and in the midst of all the greeting cards and church sermons, there will be many thoughts about what it all means, but I especially like this quote from Charley Benetto: "When you are looking at your mother, you are looking at the purest love you will ever know."

role models

Basketball superstar Jeremy Lin is someone I always find inspiring. Lin said "I think right now the way society's going, I think role models are important, and kids need direction. If I didn't have that direction growing up, who knows what I could be doing, because I've been lost many times in my life, and I've had to have someone guide me back on the right path."

Mental Exercise For The Day

Hello!  I have a little exercise for you.  Take just a moment to think about the last kind act someone did for you.  Picture that in your mind.  Think about how it made you feel.  Imagine if everyone you encountered did something kind for you. How would you feel then?  Oh my!  Hold that image in your mind. Wow! Now if we all practiced this same kindness, picture the results.  Incredible.

If

If you don't go after what you want, you will never have it. If you don't ask, the answer is always going to be no. If you don't step forward, you'll always be in the same place.

all the time

If you are nice all the time, you really don't have to put any special effort into being kind.  Sometimes it can be fun though to add some bonus moments.  That's when we do those special random acts of kindness.

Being nice is a true treasure

George Foreman was a boxer, so it might surprise you that he has spoken of the importance of being nice.  Foreman said "It's very important that people know that I really enjoy everything that has happened to me.  And I tell my kids 'you're not going to be the tallest, fastest, prettiest, the best track runner, but you can be the nicest human being that someone has ever met in their life.'  And I just want to leave that legacy that being nice is a true treasure."

Animals need kindness too

Do you have any pets at home?  Are there any animals around the places you frequent?  Sometimes when we talk about kindness, we forget about the animals - they need kindness too.  Treat the animals of the world with the same love, kindness, and respect that you would like to have shown toward you.

Who doesn't like kindness

Let's see a show of hands.  Who doesn't like kindness?  {no hands went up}  I mean what is there we wouldn't like?  Seriously?  Rude or mean people are a turn-off.  Kind and loving people are just the opposite.  I most certainly like kindness!

keep on trying

Things don't always turn out the way we would like them, but that isn't reason to give up.  Never throw your hands up in surrender.  Instead, keep on trying.  The kindness of others will help to fuel you along the way together with the knowledge that we have the power to make things better.

words that you can't utter

Waking up this morning, I was thinking of these words from James Earl Jones: "One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can't utter "

May

Here comes the month of May!  During these thirty-one days, let us do our best to show kindness to everyone we meet.  Let us spread kindness everywhere!