Friday, July 13, 2012

The Kindness Experiment

I shared this experience with my husband recently and he said, "Oh gosh, you aren't going to blog that are you?"  He thought my story was cheesy.  But not only that, I don't like to talk about good deeds.  I have stopped following people on facebook or blogs because they are overly braggy about their good deeds.  In my book, that kind of detracts from the acts of service if you have to toot your own horn.  Ultimately the only person who matters in knowing how you treat others is our Savior. Hebrews 6:10 "For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister."

I recently read on Positively Alene that she wants to do a Friday link up of kindness acts to inspire each other.  I think the difference between inspiring and bragging is all in the wording.  So in order to participate in her link up, I am going to concentrate on my wording here as to be inspiring not braggy.  Getcha?  Gotcha?  Good!  

When I was a little girl, I learned this catchy little song at church.  It went something like this...

♫♫I want to be kind to everyone, for that is right you see...
So I say to myself, remember this, kindness begins with me♫♫

I loved that song and would sing it to myself sometimes to remind myself to be kind and helpful to others.  



I was at the grocery store recently, and let me preface that I HATE the grocery store.  People are in a hurry are generally rude, and personally I can't get out of there fast enough. There was this woman and her friend/sister I'm not sure, but as I passed them down the aisle of the store their carts were doubled up taking up so much of the aisle that every time they came toward me, I would have to squish myself up against the canned goods or whatever.  It was one of my invisible moments, I assure you.   I found myself feeling ugly inside.  My rude thoughts consumed me.  I was frustrated, that they were in their own world and did not see me!  As I was approaching the last aisle of the store, I turned the corner and there they were again. It was then that the words to this childhood song came back to me, ♫Kindness begins with me♫ This time I decided to change my attitude.  I looked at woman who was smack dab in the middle of the aisle right in the eye and smiled real big at her.  I tried to look at her with love. And do you know what happened?  She smiled back and moved out of the way!  

This isnt' groundbreaking or earth shattering but it's implications and lesson in my life can be life changing.  It's that even the smallest acts of kindness can reap huge results.  In my case, a small smile from me, reaped the result of being seen....of the woman in turn moving out of my way instead of the other way around.  This was my experiment in kindness.  

How have you seen kindness work in your life?  

12 comments:

  1. I love it! I completely agree with what you said, the smallest act of kindness can sure make a difference. Thank you so much for participating in today's Acts of Kindness project. You ROCK!
    www.findyoursparkle2.com

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  2. I think I must look kind or maybe upstanding. Recently older shoppers have been asking me to grab things for them on the top shelf. I'm happy to help but I'm still curious how I got so mature and responsible looking. ;)

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    1. I'm cracking up!!!! Thanks for the giggle -- I think I must be mature looking too -- YIPES!

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  3. yes!! and kindness is contagious!!! i am in kindness debt forever, so many people were kind to me while i was having all these babies, I would not have survived without them...I would love to be able to pay it forward....

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  4. Yes! People have been very kind to me all these years. And most especially, God. He does wonders to everyone.

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  5. Nice to meet you through the link-up!

    Well, first of all, your husband sounds like mine..."Are you going to put that on the blog?". Ha! Second, I love small acts. To me, it's the less memorable acts that often encourage long lasting change.

    Anyway, I was nodding along as I read your post. The main idea of my blog is to encourage families to find ways to give in the everyday, and yet, I still cringe when I see braggy-ness (is that a word?) around the web, and wowzers. It's a hard balance. Sharing inspiration and keeping your eyes on Him.

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  6. I love this girl! Thanks for the shout that I'm encouraging, becaues I too struggle with what is what. But I know I'm more brave when I read or hear about others being brave. So I only hope to ever come across as inspiration for all of us to be brave and serve others.

    This story is GREAT. Just a simple smile sometimes is the best gift ever. A smile can change the mood in a room, let alone the mood on the grocery shopping aisle. BTW - I hate grocery shopping too.

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  7. I couldn't agree with you more about bragging on blogs. I try to keep it to a minimum my blaggin(get it ? braggin +bloggin ?) I like how you kept it real by saying what was going on first in your mind and then how you made that switch in your attitude. And this did encourage me because I have those moments too.

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  8. Love it! Kindness does make a difference especially in the givers heart.

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  9. When you give love, you get it! Good for you.

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  10. We sing that song as a family before prayer at least 4 times a week. I think it is my kids' favorite because it is short. I used to make them sing it whenever they weren't being kind to each other when they were kids. Kindness is so important. And it's a choice. :)

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