Be One

Today driving home from work I heard the radio deejay say a cheesy little line to introduce a song. He said, "The world is full of kind people. If you can't find one, be one." Then he somehow related it to the current hit, "Humble and Kind," which is a pretty good song if you ask me.

Cheesy, and normally the kind of thing I wouldn't think twice about, but for some reason it hit me in a way that I thought its cuteness outweighs its cheesiness. Maybe it's a quote or a lyric, I dunno, but I liked it so it's today's topic for Pep Talk Tuesday!

First, the world is full of kind people. I had never noticed the kindness of strangers until a couple years ago when I got in a terrible car wreck and about ten people pulled over to check on me. That car wreck changed me in two ways: I always dart my eyes to the left when entering an intersection even on a green light, and I have a little more faith in humanity. The other day, a woman at the pool asked me, "Excuse me, can you watch my daughter for 2 minutes while I use the restroom?" And I was happy to keep an eye on her adorable kid who was safely playing on the pool steps. But that woman had faith in humanity and it made me feel proud to live in the same world as her.

Second, if you can't find one, be one. If you can't find kind people around you, I am SO sorry. I hate that for you, and I can't believe how hard it must be for you to not have a strong close community to rely on. I urge you to reach out to an old friend, visit a church, or ask your coworker out for lunch. Your own positive attitude, kindness, understanding, and smile can be the start of a caring community. I share an office with two other women, and we usually are good about working in silence and not bothering each other. But we have to coordinate and work together so much that it really makes sense for us to share an office so I'm totally not complaining. Anyway, I always used to feel awkward when they walk in and out of the office throughout the day, like am I supposed to say hi and bye every time? I started goofily, overly-cheerfully yelling "welcome back!" whenever they walk in, and it makes them laugh and now they do it to me. One dumb little smile caused a beautiful little inside joke, which puts us in the category of friend, not just coworker. Be a friend and you'll make a friend.