Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Love is kind...............

Sometimes I wonder, "How hard is
it to be kind to other people?" Kindness
is an expression of genuine love
that often gets overlooked.

Many years ago, I read an amazing
book by Dale Carnegie. It was called,
"How To Win Friends And Influence
People". Mr. Carnegie taught me the
importance of being kind to others.

The payoff for being kind and showing
it, is huge.

First, be kind to yourself. If you're
hard on YOU, you'll likely be
hard on others (but not always).
A great revealing question to
ask yourself is, "Would I like to
be around ME?" Then be honest
with your answer.

Second, be kind to those that you
love. I'm always amazed at how
someone tells me how terrible their
wife, husband, employee, sibling,
neighbor, etc., are.

When I had several people under
my employment, I always spoke
well of them. I mean, I gave them
a pay check every week. I think it
is insane to give someone money
week after week and then tell
others how incompetent or 'bad'
they were. Come on. Think about
it.

The other one that astounds me
is the person who tells you how
terrible their spouse or significant
other, is. Let's see. YOU chose
them. Are YOU that bad at picking?
And if that were not enough, THEY
chose YOU! Come on. Think!

Third, be kind to everyone. Why
not? We act as if people are going
to rob us of our lives if we are kind.
We 'think' we are making ourselves
vulnerable.

I find that the opposite is true.

A few days ago, I was in a check
cashing place to pay a bill. There
was a guy in front of me that I
know pretty well. He was letting
the cashier have it. He was mad
about something that she'd done.

When he left, I noticed that her
hands were shaking. I saw her
name tag and said, "Karen,
there are some people that are
jerks. Then there are others
who just act like jerks. He really
isn't a jerk. He's just acting like
one."

I was then very careful to be
polite and grateful towards her.

When you choose to love others,
you are choosing to be kind to
them.

Think about kindness. Look
for opportunities to be kind.

You'll be enriched when you
choose to show love in this
way.

Thanks for allowing me to
be a part of your life.

Much love,
Michael

No comments: