"Please remain calm. This is a kindness!"

Kelly: I'm almost certain we have discussed this topic before, but to me it bears repeating. The main premise for this post is this; be nice to people. REALLY be nice. It can go a long way. Case and point; this afternoon. Holly and I went up to our favorite local coffee hangout to have lunch. It was really busy and it took a while for our food to come to us, but we waited patiently because it's worth it to us. :) Anyway, one of the baristas brought me the wrong sandwich. He realized the mistake after I gently pointed it out, apologized and then brought me the right one. He continued to apologize and I smiled and said it wasn't a problem....which it wasn't. They were busy and always provide wonderful and excellent service. When we got up to the register to pay, another barista said that I would not be charged for my lunch. I said I didn't mind to pay, but nope. Didn't let me pay. You know, it's the little things. Treat people right, don't expect anything in return and it'll come back to you. If you're intentionally being kind to others and expecting something, you're wasting your time.

Case and point; yesterday. Yesterday is typically one of my days off at work, but I'm off today and switched with a co worker. She's working for me today and I did for her yesterday. On Thursday I got asked to come in early and help out on another unit. I said sure. This person I worked with...notoriously has a bad attitude for reasons I'm not sure of, although yesterday wasn't too bad. There was one instance where I was reprimanded for...trying to be nice to a patient. I thought to myself, you know, I volunteered to come in early and help out. At the VERY least, a little bit of niceness and gratitude would have been appreciated. But look right there. I was expecting something. You see, it doesn't always work that way. Whatever happened to doing nice things for other people just to do nice things for other people? It's something I'm trying to work on, and I hope you all will do the same. My purpose on this planet isn't to make myself look and feel good, it's to glorify God in all I do.

Holly: 

Where the title comes from...if you have to ask, you'll never know.  Ok ok, it's a Doctor Who reference, fine! The series 8 premiere is tonight and the anticipation is driving me mad! ANYWAY...

The driving point for all of this, for me, is this: What Kelly said earlier: "Treat people right, don't expect anything in return, and it'll come back to you."  I challenge to take it a step further than that: Treat people right.  Period.  Let's face it, there is way too much negativity in the world.  I've been around the block for a while now and I've come across people who are just consistently in bad moods.  People who just seem to do nothing but bring others down, bring themselves down, bring the world down, just a big fat bunch of downers!  As someone who is the polar opposite of that, it is physically draining being around those types of people.  It really is!  For me, not being a downer is a choice.  Sure, there's plenty of things I could complain about.  There are day-to-day goings on of people around me that could tip me over the edge.  But that's not how it works for me.  Even something just as simple as a smile goes a long way.  I choose to be kind because, to me, no one deserves any less than that.  No one deserves to feel badly about themselves.  No one deserves to feel worthless or neglected.  Now, this doesn't go without saying that I do let my frustrations get the best of me sometimes.  But as God as my witness I will do my best to try not take it out on you, and that is a promise.  If you see otherwise, please let me know.  Please.

As someone who has been on the receiving end of random acts of kindness more instances than I could name, I feel like it's my duty, not just as a Christian but as a decent human being, to procure those same acts as well.  I'm still working on it.  The saying goes "Nice guys finish last."  I couldn't disagree with that more.  I once had a supervisor tell me I was too nice.  I told him thank you.  People aren't going to remember what you said to them or what you did for them; they're going to remember how you made them feel.  Kindness builds others up, plain and simple.  Imagine how the conflicts around the world would differ if those opposing just spoke kindly or acted kindly to one another.  I think it would, quite literally, change the world.  

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ has also forgiven you. -Ephesians 4:32