A few months ago, I was sitting in the Starbucks drive-thru and as usual the line was a mile long. I finally got up to the window absolutely aggravated by the long wait only to find that the driver before me had paid for my order.
My mood just changed from annoyed to surprised and grateful. I pulled away with a smile on my face, drove to work, and had an amazing day. I could have arrived at work irritated and had a miserable day, but that one random act of kindness completely changed my attitude.
One day, inspired by that act from a stranger, my husband and I thought we’d take $50 and spread some kindness all over Brighton just for the heck of it. We bought scratch offs and taped them to gas pumps. We bought baked goods and dropped them off at the police station. We bought flowers for my kids’ Principal. I took a stack of sticky notes, wrote compliments on them: You’re amazing, You got this, YOU are beautiful and left them in random places throughout town in the hopes that someone having a bad day would find one and smile. At the end of the day, my heart was overflowing.
What would happen if we all took some time to be kind? You never know whose day, week, or even LIFE could be changed with a compliment, smile, or a paid for cup of coffee. What’s more, there’s an added bonus to practicing kindness, it makes YOU feel good too!
My challenge is this: do one kind thing today and reflect upon how it makes you feel.
Sensei Kyra Arnold is a 3rd degree black belt and Head Instructor at Colorado Karate Club’s Westminster dojo and leads the Character Development Program. Sensei Kyra began training under Sensei Willy in 2008. More about CKC