“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” Winston Churchill
Day after day we toil and sweat to do the things we must in the time given. At the end of the day we lie back in bed and think of how much we did not get accomplished and how poorly we did the things that did get finished.
We grade ourselves so poorly that it is a wonder we attempt to work on anything the next day. I think we forget about the small nameless acts of kindness we perform randomly on a given day. The friend who needs a listening ear, the family member who calls for aid, The neighbor whose car broke down, the friend who requested company while doing a difficult task, the donuts and coffee we picked up for our co-workers and the mail we dropped off to a sick friend.
The works are not of importance but the accepted task and time is. Most of us simply forget to add these daily occurrences into our list of “accomplishments for the day”. Most if not all of the kind acts are done without any expectations of a favor in return. We do these things often yet sit back in our chairs and think how little I am doing with my life.
We worry and fret and wonder if we should start running the local soup kitchen or charitable organization. Although these are awesome and worthwhile ideas, for most of us such a commitment is not one of our choices. Small things are actually just as important if they are done on a daily basis.
All those nameless mindless acts of charity add up. if we could total them and bag them we would most likely not be able to carry our bags. Most of us would have a monster of a bag at our feet. We are not aware of it because there is no way to measure our actions. So many people believe they do nothing to impact the world. The truth is everything we say and do impacts people which in turn impacts the world. Insults and harsh words spoken behind the back of another brings lots of negativity into the world. Likewise, praise, kind words and actions bring lots of positive energy into the world. It is all within our power to alter a person, people, society and the world. Our good modeling brings goodness.
Never underestimate your power or tremendous amount of offerings given to others daily. The best of your life is made up of the many small kindnesses, not necessarily the one large performance. It is what we do that counts not what we didn’t do. That milk you just got for your spouse will be added to your bag of kindness. When you can’t sleep because you believe you didn’t contribute enough good, simply pull your kindness bag over your body as a reminder and calmly drift off into a peaceful sleep of serenity.
“It’s not your position in life that matters but choosing to do what matters most in life that counts.” V.J. Smith
