Ever have one of those days? One of those weeks? Well, I was having one of those months in December. As I desperately clung to hope that it couldn’t get any worse….well… it did. Lucky for me I was raised with grounded logic,  and a mind for solution, so I will persevere.  I powered on, one stressful event after another….until I caught strep throat. Wounded and defeated I laid in bed, miserable, drowning in Kleenex, vicks vapor rub and halls cough drops. I was certain that death was inevitable, R.I.P. to me.

Ok, so maybe that’s a bit dramatic ( I am a designer after all, drama is what I do) but when I can’t eat, nor have interest in food…uh,…Houston we have a problem. But my luck was changing. Two days after my death sentence I mustered up the energy to go into the office. To my surprise I had a message on our company phones from a dear client:

“Amanda, I hope you had a wonderful holiday. I wanted to tell you how much I love my console and I cannot thank-you enough for encouraging Gary to buy it for Christmas. You are an expert in your profession and your talent is ubitquitous with your kindness. We adore everything that you have done to our home. You constantly  push us out of  our comfort zone with dumbfounding results that far exceed our expectations…thank-you!” Carol Paige

In an instant, this single act of kindness from Carol changed my attitude completely. She took time out of her day to lend a compliment to me, and thank-me. Already I felt better and death didn’t seem so bad. What’s interesting to me is how much our human nature thrives on negativity and complaining. One complaint after another, looking only to the worst possible scenario we dig ourselves into a deeper hole. That just sounds miserable!

Today I picked up a Better Homes and Gardens from last year and found a note on this very subject.  Researchers found that benelovent behavior spreads like a virus and creates a domino effect of kindness. According to the study they found that one person’s kindness spread to three people, then those three turned to nine, and continued to spread throughout the day. I could not believe how accurate it was. Elated from Carol’s comment I went thru the starbucks drive thru that particular day and I made it a point to buy coffee for the car behind me.  What do you want to bet that the person in the car later did an act of kindness? Let this be a wake up call to all of us. Kindness should be second nature, and each and everyone one of us is fighting our own battles, so wouldn’t it be nice if YOU were the one to change that vicious cycle for someone else?

Operation Nice

Thanks to Cinda Baxter of the 350 project, I found one of my favorite blogs, Operation Nice by Melissa Ivone, last year.  Melissa’s blog is based entirely on kindness, and how to make  life a little easier for those around us. I myself am only at a freshman level compared to Melissa’s expertise, but because of her blog others have followed in her footsteps, doing small acts of kindness in hopes to make a difference in someone elses day. How nice!

What are you going to do today to make the lives of those around you a little easier?

images: that kind of woman, My happy place, etsy, bits of truth

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