“Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless.” -Mother Teresa
We are continually inventing what is available to us as individuals, and collectively we are continually inventing what is available to us as a species. I am someone who believes that our individual power to have doors be open for us, individually and collectively, rests in how we behave, how we act, talk and think, in the present moment, in the kindness of our actions.
Several years ago I was phoned by a reporter who was writing a story about kindness. I said something about the importance of simple acts of kindness and apparently this idea stuck with her. I told her about my belief in the human behavior implications of the “Butterfly Effect,” the concept that something as seemingly insignificant as a butterfly flapping its wings in one part of the world can impact the weather in another part. The flapping wings cause an atmospheric change that then sets off a series of events that ultimately leads to something significant. She mentioned this in her final article which set off a chain of publicity that lead to the creation of Kind Living, the online kindness initiative that is bringing you this activity.
With that in mind, please consider each “mission” as an opportunity for you, the butterfly, to flap your wings and that the resulting chain of events will result in a series of positive outcomes, each building on the last and thus increasing in significance. Thus the simple act of smiling at someone sets off a chain reaction of events that ultimately leads to a bigger result, something like a dad spending 15 extra minutes tucking in his child at night. That’s how I choose to see it. It’s why I love these activities. And it’s why the concept of doing something simple and small is a foundational component of the kindness I promote.
Do the simple things. They have big results.
Kind Living 