Kindness is Free

"Kind words are jewels that live in the heart and soul and remain as blessed memories years after they have been spoken." ~ Marvea Johnson

It's such a simple thing that many of us overlook it. To be kind to another person doesn't take much effort or energy, yet the affects can be far reaching.

I was once waiting for a friend to join me for lunch in a restaurant. I was a little early. It was prime time lunch hour and the restaurant was crowded.

My friend finally showed up and we started visiting. His office is in the same building as the restaurant where we were lunching.

After we'd been there a few minutes, two men from another table got up to leave the restaurant. They walked by our table and stopped to talk to my friend. They worked with him.

One of the guys said something about being late to my friend. He was quick to point out that he was right on time. Then the guy said, "We saw you sitting here by yourself, and we almost invited you to have lunch with us!"

It was such a sweet thing to say. I was having a really difficult time in my life when this happened, and I must have looked a little sad. This guy saying that to me gave my spirit a little lift.

I was having another bad day recently. A brand new computer had a minor mechanical defect. I met with a technician, in a Starbucks, to have my computer repaired. After 3 hours of him working on my computer, not only was the defect not repaired, but my computer was rendered unusable!! This was one day before I was leaving on a 4 day vacation, and 1 week before I would be leaving on a very long business trip! I'd had a rough week anyway, and when this happened, I ended up crying in public at this Starbucks!! I don't usually do that in public (or anywhere else for that matter), so this was particularly embarrassing!

I had just ordered a cup of coffee when the technician gave me all the bad news. As they made my coffee drink, I was dealing with the technician, and my tear-fest began. When I finally composed myself and went to pick up and pay for my coffee, the woman said, "Oh please... I can see you are having a really bad day. Please... the coffee is on me." It was such a sweet gesture.

These are simple kindnesses applied to really tough moments. I will never forget these total strangers who went out of their way to try to be kind to me.

Kindness is free and easy to give!