“A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.”

~ Steve Maraboli

There is a young girl who dreams of what could be. Dreaming of what she wants to be when she grows up and planning every detail along the way. Her wedding, the exact specifications of her home and the family that will reside in it. She practices her signature with the last name of the true love that just might turn out to be the one! She loses herself in the greatness she thinks that growing up will bring her.

I was a version of that girl…and now I see my daughters becoming a version of that girl. A different version, but one that is their own. I could never have imagined that cell phones, texting and social media would alter the way that society communicates…that was never in my plan. As my girls get older, I realize more and more how many factors compete with my influence. The world has become a complete open book, there is no timeline as to when it is the “right time” to teach them what you think they need to know. In most cases, you are already too late.

These facts can become overwhelming. What can I possibly do or say to make the biggest impact on the rest of their lives? As new factors pour into their routines, other factors are falling away. It is a difficult task to impress upon them behaviors that society may not show them in return. I may not have known it when I dreamed of my children and what I would want them to become, but I always knew that I would want them to make a difference. I want them to know that they are empowered to change the lives of others. In every way that we interact with someone, we have within us the ability to make a difference. We are responsible for the effect that we leave that other person with…good or bad…it is by our choosing. We underestimate how impactful just a moment of an interaction can be.

Kindness. So many forms, so many ways…all at our disposal. Why not give it away to every single person that you come across?! Kindness has the power to change the world. It’s infectious…and it starts with just one-act, by one person. In a world that feels out of control, we can choose to control at least one thing…how we choose to treat others. People will always remember the way you made them feel.

Choose kindness. And in the moments that aren’t kind to you…you can still choose to respond with kindness, because that is when it is needed the most.

1/5/2017