“You’ve got to get up every morning with a smile on your face and show the world all the love in your heart.” ~ Carole King
Well, I never did join and soon after college – somewhere along the way – I became jaded and even turned cynical. I believe that it was soon after joining the ranks of the working class, going to work every day in the “corporate world,” that this jadedness occurred. Due in part perhaps to the game of office politics, which I learned quickly and reluctantly how to play, and partly due to my role of dealing with the public – these real people face to face on the telephone. It was then that I came to believe that people were basically idiots.
Then, later still, I had another reversal of how I viewed the world and how I looked at people. I don’t know when it was (because it was a long time ago) that I, again, started believing in the goodness of people but I’m glad I did. I believe we are all in this together and we might as well be kind to one another. For one thing it is just easier that way.
So, what changed? Well, the serenity prayer comes to mind. “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference.” You can’t change people, but you can change the way you view people. You can change your own attitude toward people. Honestly, I really don’t remember making any conscience decision to change myself, but I do know that we all have the power to look at things a certain way. Attitude is a very powerful thing. We wake up every morning and can decide right then whether or not to have a good day. The outcome of our day all depends on how we decide to go through our day. It’s 90% attitude. On one of the morning shows – years ago – one of the anchors used to sign off by saying, “Go out and make it a good day.” You really do have the power to make of your day anything you really want it to be. You can make it a good day. OK, trite I know – but “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade; and when life gives you scraps, make a quilt.” You get the idea. It doesn’t have to be that drastic though. Just resolve to have a good day. So, it is raining out. Big deal! Use your umbrella - and share it with someone who forgot theirs! Rain can be a good thing. It depends on how you look at it.
I think that most people know that the Boy Scout motto is “be prepared” but lesser known, I think, and the more important philosophy is the Boy Scout slogan, which is “Do a good turn daily.” The scout leaders were always quick to add, to do at least one good turn daily. Do good things, period. Even the scout oath says, “---to help other people at all times,---“ If we all really lived these simple principles, how much easier would life be?! When I was a den leader with my younger son’s cubscout den, our den was chosen to open the Pack meeting with a prayer. I picked this nice prayer, called “A Boy’s Prayer” which I had found in my grandfather’s 1912 pocket bible given to him from the Boys Christian School he attended in his youth. I renamed it “A Scout’s Prayer,” and each boy read a line from it. One line read, “send me small chances to do a little good every day.”
So now I ask you, “random” acts or “deliberate” acts of kindness? I know the “Practice Random Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty” or “Random Acts of Kindness” bumper stickers that we all see is really an answer to all the horrible headlines we see: “Random shootings. Senseless acts of violence, killings,” and so on. But I believe that we should really be deliberate in the kindnesses we show to other people and we should make this a way of life. Do a good turn daily. Seek out and create chances to do a little good every day. You don’t need to be “younger” than someone or be a “male” to do any of the following: Pump gas for someone; open the door for someone; let someone go ahead of you at the checkout; give someone your seat on the bus; tell a stranger that you like their shirt, (if you like their shirt); give a ride to someone if you know they need it; if you are able to – when you pay for your coffee at the drive-thru – pay for the car behind you, be sure to ask the cashier to tell the car person to pay it forward when they can; volunteer: and so on and so on! These are simple things that we can do. It is amazing how little an effort on our part can result in making someone's day and/or really turning their day around.
Practice deliberate and purposeful acts of kindness. Show the world all the love in your heart. Resolve to be positive. Strive to be a better person. I could go on and on (I think I already have) but I don’t want to sound too preachy and I don’t want to come off sounding as if I am “perfect” somehow. Far from it. You get the idea. We all can be better people. Now, go out and make it a good day!
EDITOR'S NOTE: (Me again) I was blessed the other day to have been sent a small chance to do a little good. While in the lobby of the post office, I noticed someone's checkbook at the table there. The address on it was right down the road from my home, so I went there to deliver it. No one was home so I left a note. Someone called to say that the person didn't live there anymore and he didn't know who the person was. I went to the PO the next day to see if the guy had been there looking for his checkbook or that maybe he had a PO box there. He had not and did not. So I drove to his bank, just 10 minutes away, and gave it to the customer service person. She was able to look up his account and see that he did not call to close out his account or anything. I'm glad he didn't go through all that trouble to close it out and open another one. She'll put a note, on-line, that his checkbook had been found - etc. etc. And - she will call him. She has a new address for him and a phone number! I'm sure he would have called to find out about it sooner or later, so I feel he's all set and will get good news when he calls his bank or they call him!
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