I’m sure you have seen one of the dozens of high- speed
internet access commercials on television recently. Touting
faster and faster connections at prices that seem to just get
lower and lower.
How is that?
How is it that as technology gets better
that it also gets cheaper?
You probably know the answer but it is really just a matter
of connection. At first, the cost is high as the number of
“subscribers” is low. As more users get onboard, cost come
down and the service is more readily available to all.
So what does this have to do with kindness?
A lot
actually.
There is so much available to us online these days but it
does not come to us for free. We must get connected. We must
subscribe to the service if we expect to get what it has to
offer.
Same goes for our interactions with others. We can sit back
and complain of how no one goes out of his or her way to say
hello to us, to make us feel welcome... etc. or we can plug in
to that power that is available and get a high-speed
connection. We can be the change we wish to see. We can be the
ones who go out of OUR way to say hello to someone
else. Who knows, maybe they too are thinking the same things
that we are and it just takes one of us to pay the price of a
little discomfort to reach out and say hello, lend a hand, or
share a moment of compassion in order to “plugged in.”
Just as a toaster can’t make toast if it is not plugged in,
we cannot enjoy the benefits of relationships if we fail to
get connected. And like high-speed access, the more people who
subscribe to being the change versus complaining about someone
else, then the more people who will become subscribers. It’s
like a spark that ignites a raging fire.
So this week, be encouraged to get a high-speed connection.
Tap the power of being the change you wish to see. If you get
angry because the grocery store clerk never says hello to you,
say hello to her first. If you get upset because no one ever
lets you merge into traffic while you are on your way home,
you be the one to let someone else in. If you find yourself
getting anxious over money or the lack of it, step out in
faith and help someone else financially. It may be tough but
giving to others is what it is all about. It is not about what
you are doing for someone else, it is the softening of your
own heart that allows you to be the recipient of that high-
speed connection for years to come.
Your Partner in Kindness,
-Daniel
Kindness. It starts with you, pass it on.
