Kindness makes the world go round

One of my favorite commercials is by an insurance company - AllState I think; it shows someone doing a kind act for someone else and it forms a chain reaction eventually getting back to the person that started it in the first place. It goes to show how one simple act of kindness can have an impact on someone. I recently became a fan of the show The Secret Millionaire in which a millionaire goes undercover and gives away money to people making a difference in their communities. This past week's millionaire (there's a different one every week) was working with a man who when he was younger got a girl pregnant and got kicked out of his house. Knowing his own struggle he decided to help others by collecting donated clothes, shoes, etc and with monetary gifts he bought toiletries and formed hygiene kits. He'd gather all this stuff up and go into one of the worst homeless areas and give the stuff away. While they were there, they saw an old man with a walker whose shoes had been covered in feces - courtesy of someone else, but there were no more shoes. The guy who ran the drive asked what size shoe, then looked at his own took off his shoes and gave them to the old man who was stunned and grateful. As I sat there watching, it brought a tear to my eye - I had never seen such a selfless act. Now I'm not saying take off your shoes and go give them to the nearest homeless person, but just think about the differences you CAN make. Recently my brother's been going through some things and HATES to cook so a couple of times I've brought dinner with all the trimmings. He was so grateful, but I just figured that he could use it, and well for those of you that know me know I LOVE to cook and bake. Some might call me an enabler lol but the joy I get from watching someone's face light up when I hand them something I made for them is priceless because more often than not they'll tell me they were having a bad day and needed a pick me up; to know that someone was thinking about them with love.

You see it's a win/win situation; not only is the person that is the recipient of the kind act grateful, but something inside you happens when you're kind to others. For lack of a better term - you get warm fuzzies. We all have our own struggles; that goes without saying but every once in awhile we have to look beyond ourselves and realize that there's a bigger picture. You never know when smiling at someone or opening the door for someone will start that chain reaction and guess what? Eventually it'll get back to YOU!

We've all heard the term you are what you eat (In my case I'd probably be a plate of Mexican food); the same can be said for our lives. You get back what you put out there; if you're constantly being selfish or negative - guess what only selfish and negative things are gonna happen. However if you take the time to think about someone else - even for a few minutes it can make a difference. Am I saying that if you're nicer to people or more postive about things that you will all of a sudden become Cindy Crawford or have Bill Gates' money? NO but you might get something you never expected - kindness in return.