Stumbling Upon Practical Kindness

A Dog Paves the Way for Practical Kindness. And Your Practical Kindness Challenge for This Week.

How it Happened

Rain misted silently as I walked into the printing shop in the little town of Morton, Illinois.  The bell clanged above the door and John, the owner of the small shop, barely looked up at me from behind the counter.  It wasn’t his normal greeting.  And Tassie, his sweet little black rescue, who always wiggled her way around my legs to say ‘hello’, was missing.  John was a widower of 14 years and Tassie was his constant companion.

I loved coming into John’s shop, partly because they were helping produce my new t-shirt designs, but especially because it was a happy and welcoming place.  John worked with a smile on his face.  And Troy, his part designer, part production guy, spoke softly and sincerely, always looking you straight in the eyes.  But not today.

Gone

Tassie was dead.  At 15 she had simply curled up in her special little corner of the shop one afternoon and decided not to wake up.  It had happened three weeks ago, but of course I was just finding out now.  It had been a month since my last visit to the shop.  I hugged John, because that’s what you do in a small town when you work with good people who have taken the time to get to know you.  And I hugged him because I didn’t really know what to say.  Have you been with someone who recently lost a loved one?  Do you know that feeling of wanting to help, but not knowing the right words to say? 

The Opportunity to Practice Practical Kindness

Two more weeks went by and I couldn’t stop seeing that sad look in John’s eyes.  One sunny morning I made a decision.  I drove to the local animal shelter.  I was just going to look (you know how that turns out). As luck or fate would have it, a small black dog greeted me shyly when I entered the reception area.  “Oh, that’s Maggie,” one of the gals from behind the counter called out.  “She’s friendly.  We just haven’t found a home for her yet.” 

“Great, I’ll take her,” I heard myself say. 

John’s eyes lit up when Maggie and I entered his little shop.  “Who’ve you got there,” he asked.  “Did you get a dog?” 

“No, but you did,” I said.  Maggie went right over to John and rolled over, looking for a belly scratch.  She was hooked.  He was hooked. 

The Opportunity That Improved My Career

A week later Troy called and asked me to stop by to discuss my designs.  As we looked over the layouts in the back workroom he said, “I showed your designs to our contact who handles the airport gift shops.  He’d like to carry your shirts.”  Then he raised his hand and gave me a loud, smacking high five.

At 35 I was suddenly in business in a pretty big way.

And that was how I stumbled upon practical kindness. 

I Was Hooked

Since then I have tried to learn all I can about how kindness works.  There is scientific evidence that practicing kindness can improve your physical and mental well-being, your relationships, your career, your lifestyle, and the lives of others.  I thought, “Wow.  I want to learn how to do that!”

Many people are nice, but not as many develop the habit of practicing kindness every day.  Being nice is just being pleasant to people.  It’s passive.  Being kind requires action to benefit others.  And that’s what this newsletter and community is all about.  Learning how to create the daily habit of practicing practical kindness.  My dream is to help you create a better life for yourself and for those around you.  Imagine the power of kindness as our community grows! 💜

With Kindness,

~ Heather

What Is Your Story?

Have you stumbled upon practical kindness?  Won’t you take a moment to inspire our community with your story?

Practical Kindness Challenge for this week

Are you up for a challenge? Let’s do it! (Thanks to my awesome hubby for this idea!)

• Take 3 pennies (or 3 paperclips, or 3 small pieces of paper) and put them in one pocket.

• During the day, each time you give someone a genuine compliment, move one penny to a second pocket.  See how long it takes you to move all of the pennies to the second pocket.

• Let us know in the Comments at the end of this post how each interaction went.  How did the recipient react?  How did you feel giving each compliment?  Did you move all 3 pennies?  Can you do this again tomorrow and without the pennies in your pocket?

A Sneak Peek at Next Week…

Riddle: What can make you healthier, is super simple to do, and costs nothing?

If you haven’t signed up yet, please sign up below for the Practical Kindness newsletter so you can get next week’s post with the answer to this riddle.

Please Share Practical Kindness

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