KINDNESS

Recently my brother gave me this book and it's full of great advice. Chapter 56 is called "Schedule Times For Kindness".  At first it sounded a little shallow since we should automatically be kind. Right? But the older I get the one thing I've learned is that you can't assume assume anything in life will happen automatically, without intentionally building it into our routine. In this case, the kindness thing works like this:

You look at your calendar and set aside a little time on a regular basis - ten minutes, thirty minutes, whatever - but you stick to it, just like any other important appointment. At the scheduled time, you drop what you're doing and send a heartfelt letter or note to someone, or call a friend to tell them how much they mean to you. Or you spend time thinking about how to creatively contribute to someone else's life or your church or community. Rather than simply hit the like button on someone's Facebook, why not take a minute to express appreciation for a specific memory? Or call an old friend?

The author says the strategy has proven to be powerful and effective in his life. Its worth a try, I guess. The world could use a little more kindness, don't you think?