Daily: Express kindness at least 1x(Happiness Manifesto Declaration #10)

I helped an old man read price tags at the Supermarket yesterday. He was trying to buy oil and couldn’t seem to find where the price was mentioned. He asked me to help him and I did. And he gave me a nice smile in return!

...and I’m just not a nice person, much of the time.

A lovely thought, though.

I am a kind person in general. Kind to every person I meet. I am taking this off my list not because I am not going to follow through just because I need to clean up my list.

Years ago, some friends and I were using one of the “books of questions” during an evening of socializing. One of the questions was something like, what five words would your friends use to describe you?” Well, instead of anwering it, we asked each other, “What words would you use to describe me?” Everyone in the group included “kindness” in their description of me. I was deeply touched by this and humbled. I do try to treat people with kindness and I will continue to. But I have found this goal an awkward one to report on and I haven’t reported consistently. I will retire it from the list now, but I will work to keep it on the list of words that people would use to describe me.

In Barnes and Noble tonight, the woman in front of me did not stop at the “wait here for next register” sign and went and stood behind someone else who was paying. When the next register was open the cashier called me over but I said, “Actually, that woman right there was next she just didn’t stop at the sign.” My intentions were for him to call her over and let her check out first. She was elderly and probably just didn’t see the sign and was too far down to hear our conversation, so she never moved down. The guy at the register didn’t even make much of an attempt to get her attention and said, kind of abruptly, “Well, sometimes it pays to read the sign and pay attention to directions, doesn’t it,” and checked me out anyway. The register guy could have used a few lessons in kindness!!

I made doggie treats tonight in the shape of gingerbread men and hearts to give to all the dogs I will encounter over the holidays – my sister’s Australian shepard, her fiance’s lab, and my grandmother and aunt’s bichons. I bought miniture Christmas tins to put them in. I hope they like them!

this afternoon I gave my cart to the woman and her elderly mother who walked in right behind me. When I came out of the grocery store I also moved a cart that someone had left right behind someone’s car a couple rows over from where I had parked. Who would just leave a cart directly behind someone?

post-church madness reigns…all open checkout lanes with people in them. Hubby and I are next in our lane when I notice a woman with an active 3-year old boy looking for the “short line”...she has one item…even though the clerk was just starting to ring my stuff up I said, “Wait…get her first.” Well, I thought the woman was going to cry and the clerk just smiled at me and after the woman was checked out the clerk said something like, “Sometimes, it’s the little things that matter!”

I brought some candy into work today to share with my coworkers.

I congratulated a coworker on passing a test she needed to pass to get back into school. I’m considering this one of my kind acts for the day because she kind of gets on my nerves a little. Congratulating her meant listening to her talk for 15 minutes but she’s proud of herself and rightly so. It’s a good thing when people continue their education, so I happily listened while she tooted her own horn.

I’ve also been covering the phone for everyone today. I usually resent it when no one answers calls except for me, but I’m trying to look at it as my early Christmas present to my coworkers.