A reminder that kindness is needed daily

Can we do it? You and I? Can we be kind? More importantly, can we be kind at least once a day for a whole month? I didn’t think this idea up, but I wish I had because it is a great and much needed one. I got it from a daily devotional courtesy of Northside United Methodist Church in Atlanta and Nancy Jeanne Chadwick, the Children’s Ministry Associate. She may work with kids, but she is talking grownup stuff.

She has issued a challenge for the month of October. It is called KIND30. It stands for Kindness Is Needed Daily. Yes, I know that October has 31 days, so I’m not sure why it is called KIND30 instead of KIND31, but that’s not the point. The point is for us to remember to “commit to a small act of kindness each day. Whether it is a simple compliment, sharing a meal, helping a neighbor or volunteering your time.” Come on, folks. How hard can that be? I mean, how hard is it to smile at someone or to say thank you? Or pay someone a compliment? Or make a little extra effort to be nice? Small acts can be big deals.

You don’t have to be rich or famous to participate. The challenge is open to males and females. Democrats. Republicans. Independents. All races, creeds and colors. You can be left-handed or right-handed. It doesn’t matter. Just be kind.

Chadwick’s challenge comes before the presidential election on Nov. 5 and at this time, it’s hard to locate much kindness in all the yelling and screaming taking place. I haven’t checked this out with Junior E. Lee, general manager of the Yarbrough Worldwide Media and Pest Control Company in Greater Garfield, Georgia, and an expert on the latest societal trends as well as being a certified pest control professional, but I suspect most of the noise is coming from loud-mouthed, Kool-Aid drinking wingnuts on both ends of the political spectrum. (Okay, I will admit that was not very kind. I must remember to read what I write.)

My point is that most of us are somewhere in the middle. We are likely liberal on some issues and conservative on others. We will cast our ballot in November because it is our civic duty, even though some of us may be holding our noses when we do. (There I go again.) In the meantime, you and I can focus on a campaign of kindness: KIND30 and remembering that Kindness Is Needed Daily.

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I have been on the receiving end of acts of kindness. As many of you know, I had a recent battle with sepsis. I was overwhelmed and still am at how kind people were. Phone calls. Cards. Meals. People I don’t know all that well telling me they had me in their prayers. It must have worked because I am still around to share the experience with you. Now, it is my turn to pass it on.

The Beloved Woman Who Shared My Name was one of the kindest and most thoughtful people ever to walk this Earth. She made it a point to look at a clerk’s nametag and to call them by name when she had a question. You could see the person’s face light up when she did and, of course, they went out of their way to assist her. She would come up with unique gifts at Christmas for the service station attendant, the bank teller at the drive-through window, the clerks, the mail carrier, the repair people. She loved doing it and they loved her for it.

At her going-home service, it was noted that she treated everyone the same whether it was Sen. Johnny Isakson, who loved her almost as much as I did, or the person bagging her groceries in the checkout line. She was the personification of KIND30.

Here is what I intend to do: I am going to keep a log and record at least one act of kindness each day, starting today. At the end of the month, I will look over the list and likely find it was not all that hard to do and just keep on going. Why don’t you join me?

I have quoted often my late boss and mentor, Jasper Dorsey, who said we all have an obligation to leave this a better world than we found it. Remembering that kindness is needed daily would be a good place to start. Thank you.

You can reach Dick Yarbrough at [email protected] or at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139.