I woke up thinking about.....

So I always wake up thinking about something. Usually what I have to do for the day. Some mornings I wake up thinking the strangest things and other days really nice things. Things worth Blogging about.

This morning I woke up thinking about kindness. Actually I have had this on my mind a lot lately. Not sure why. Maybe because the world could use a lot more of it.

I love those commercials that depict people preforming random acts of kindness. Little things that are no big deal, just kind. Like picking up a toy that a baby dropped and the mom didn't know it dropped or helping someone with a task that they could get done on their own but it would be easier with just a little bit of help. Random Acts Of Kindness.

The difficult situations need some kindness infused into the scenario as well. Many times at work this applied. Being a new employee at Costco can be brutal. The general attitude is that no one helped them when they were new so why should they help the new person. The " It happened to me so I am going to make it happen to the next guy." attitude. I have never understood this attitude. It just baffles me. Why do we as human beings perpetuate such unkindness? Wouldn't the better solution be to help the new person so the job gets done the right way.

Kindness really comes in handy when we are at conflict with another person. It changes the whole situation. Maybe this other person needs some kindness shown to them. My mom always told us to "kill them with kindness". I will remember that for the rest of my life. It really works. Be kind to your biggest enemy. Even if they are never kind back and they still hate your guts, at least you are doing what you are suppose to do. Often times you end up being friends.

I am not tooting my own horn mind you. I am guilty of unkindness too. Anger gets the better of me at times and I say or think things I shouldn't. When I was younger I did things I shouldn't have. Thank goodness we have repentance!!!!

May be that is the reason. Anger. It can be beneficial when you have to protect or defend yourself, but even this must be done with self control. Do we just loose control?

I know in many cases with the people I used to work with, they were very simply not taught the fundamentals of kindness. Weather it be by example or that the parents just didn't think to teach the concept. I have noticed their are a lot of these fundamental concepts being lost because we just don't think to teach them to our kids. Not pointing any fingers. Just a general statement.

But think about it. Do we teach our kids to be kind? Do we think these things just come naturally to children?

Our "adopted daughter" Ashley is taking action with her own children. They are very young still but she is taking them to places like rest homes and teaching them to interact with others showing kindness. She is teaching them kindness through service and example. Ashley is one of the kindest most gentle people I know. She is a beautiful young women.

Old dogs can learn new tricks. It is never to late to put into practice good habits. It is never too late to teach our children something new. I asked Colter the other day if I took the time to teach him how to address an envelope. This came up because in a couple of activities with the youth, we had them address envelopes to mail out and they didn't know how to do it. Something so simple and basic, yet important, and they didn't know how to do it. It never occurred to me that this simple little action is getting lost in the shuffle of our modern day living. It makes me wonder what else is not being taught simply because we don't think about it. It makes me wonder what I forgot to teach my children.

I often wonder what kind of world this would be if every person preformed at least one act of kindness every day. Just one. Smile. Open a door. Give your seat to some one who could use it more than you. Say "Excuse me" or "pardon me". Say "Thank you". Write a little note of appreciation. Help some one learn something. Help some one over come a challenge. Pick up garbage while you walk. The list really could go on and on. And I know the world is a scary place and you never know who is a safe person to interact with. That is where good judgment comes in and relying on the spirit. Another really big thing that needs to be taught to our children. Dang, I hope I did that one too.

I have learned so much and I am so thankful for all of the lesson I have learned from my life. I am thankful for the lessons on kindness. Their are too many to list but it has been a life time, so far, of learning on this topic.