Choose Kindness

Choices shape our lives and shape who we are.  The life you’re living today results from the consequences of choices you made in the past.  

There is a chain of events associated with every decision that we make.  The impact can be positive or negative, but there is always a consequence.  I learned long ago that a choice is neither good nor bad.  You just must be able to live with the outcome of the decision. 

Many times, your choices will impact someone else, and additionally, their choices will affect you.  There are effects of marriage and partnership decisions and work and career decisions.  

There are also choices on how we treat others.  We can decide to be kind and likable by tempering our words and how we speak to each other, or we can show that we’re right even though we may alienate others or lose a friendship.

There is more power in being a humble person than there is in having always spoken your piece.  A secret of success lies in getting the other person’s point of view and seeing things from their angle and your own.  This is not easy to do when you never cease getting others to hear what you say.

I read Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People” many years ago.  Just recently, I found it on Podcast, and I listened to it again.  The principles he wrote about when his book was first published in 1936 still apply and are relevant today.

His three principles are:

• Don’t criticize, condemn, or complain.
• Give honest and sincere appreciation.
• Arouse in the other person an eager want.

A review of his book says that since its release in 1936, over 30 million copies have been sold, and it is a timeless bestseller that has enabled thousands of people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives.

There is a quote by Thomas Carlyle which speaks volumes, “A great man shows his greatness by the way he treats little men.”

I was at a craft fair a few weeks ago and bought a few items at one of the booths.  The lady said she wanted me to pick out an item for free that she was getting ready to move and didn’t want to take much inventory with her.

I picked out this sign that says, “Choose Kindness.”  I have it hanging on my office door as a reminder for me and anyone who comes to see me that I want harmony and kindness in my life. 

I will always choose kindness.  I don’t plan on just sitting on the fence; I want to build my values and leave the world in a better, kinder, gentler place than I found it.

I hope you will choose kindness too.