Kindness

Something that inspires me is kindness - kindness towards others. It's always amazing (and gratifying) to me to see family members dig deep and respond with kindness. My oldest step-daughter Sarah is a good example of this. She has her moods and off days but she has
always come back to kindness - always. And usually before me...

Today I was having a bad day - really a doozy - and I was unkind to a woman on the phone. She was telling me that I no longer had the amount of credit on a credit card that I had thought I had. She was telling me that she could understand how this could be unfortunate and inconvenient, but that she had no control over that. She really had no idea how inconvenient this was to me. So I thought I would just let her know...I told her that I thought she was 'evil' (oopsie...) and then I really showed her by hanging up on her.

Later this evening, a store clerk at the pharmacy was so kind and warm with me. She complemented me on my daughter's name and hoped that I was going to have a wonderful Thanksgiving. She looked at me with eyes of love and I felt her kindness, the connection with this stranger, right in my heart. As I drove home, the little voice inside of me that is always right, was telling me to do something that made me wince a little. I knew that I had not behaved in a way that made me feel proud. I had taken my frustrations out on somebody who was just doing her job. When I got home, I picked up the phone, grabbed my credit card and dialed. I told the man my name and explained that I had spoken to a supervisor earlier that day and had "lost my temper and said some very unkind words and that I wanted to apologize." The man said in a very gentle voice, "Thank you Mrs. Smith, I will make a note of this on your account."