Be a Soldier of Kindness, Monday Morning Challenge

I've found myself getting a little depressed with all the craziness in the world, the hurricanes of mass destruction, The Donald not being able to get to PR because it's an island in big water, ocean water, taking a knee, outcry over taking a knee, the fact that both sides are so busy disagreeing on the knee thing that they have lost sight of the fact that they share one very important goal....they both want everyone to stand up.  Yet, here we are debating about the right to kneel.  I feel like a child being torn
in two by fighting parents in the middle of a nasty divorce.  See, I'm falling in the rabbit hole again, and I digress.

I feel like I am so weighed down, and I feel a little helpless to make a difference that will matter at a CNN newsworthy level.  So, I took a timeout and caught up on a little "Arrow" from last season (sorry Stephen Amell, I'm a little behind).

Anyhoo, this character is feeling like a failure, like he just can't do enough to make a difference, and this other character says to him, "Stop worrying about what you can't do, and start doing what you can do." We've all heard something like this before, and I don't know, maybe I needed to hear it in a smart ass city boy accent for it to kick my butt into gear, but something just clicked for me.  I put down the pint of ice cream and got to work.  Just kidding, I totally finished the pint of ice cream, and the show, and the one after that, but I decided I am going to start worrying about what I can do.


Every Monday, I am going to think of one tiny little thing I can do for that week, and I am hoping that a couple tiny acts of kindness creates ripples that spread.  I am hoping we can start evening out our good deposits to bad withdrawals before we go bankrupt.

So this Monday, my small act of kindness will be to let people pass, to let them turn, let them out, to let them merge, and just basically be the ambassador of kindness on the road.  Not that I am not usually, but you know, you leave for work a little late, you are running late to pick up the kids and get them where they need to go, so you could let that guy in, but you don't want to miss the light, so you pretend you don't see him or her.  I'm not going to do that this week.  I am going to repeat the mantra to myself while I am in my car, "There is always time for kindness."  That is going to be my battle cry.  I am going to look them in the eye, smile, and wave them out (Please be careful you don't wave them out into on coming traffic.  That would not create ripples of kindness.)  I am going to have faith that karma will reward me by getting me to where I need to be on time, and if not, what are we talking about here? A 5 minute difference?  The world is not going to end.

I've noticed that when I do let people in, about 50% of them let someone else in later down the road. Imagine what we can do if a hundred of us do this this week.  We will exponentially spread kindness and reduce stress. Who couldn't use that in their morning commute?

Now, there will be buttheads that don't wave thank you or don't let anyone in.  Do not let them kill your buzz.  Send some good vibes or say a little prayer for their miserable soul as an additional act of kindness because they probably need it.  Then forget about them and concentrate on the few people who were grateful for your kindness because they will be paying it forward, and you are responsible for that.  That's huge.

So who's in for being a soldier of kindness? Maybe if we start injecting a little kindness into the little everyday things, the big things will start to change.