~Be Kind

I once had the best compliment in my life...at the exact moment that I needed to hear it. It was at a time when I was suffering mentally and spiritually. I was carrying so much shame and guilt and I was uncertain about myself and where I was headed. I was in my early twenties and really unsure about my future. One day when I was feeling really down, my old Sunday school teacher came into the place where I worked with his co-worker for lunch. He said hello to me and then said to his co-worker (I will never forget the words), "This right here is a good woman!" Although I knew this man most of my life, I had never actually had a real conversation with him. But he was someone I looked up to and I knew without a doubt that he was a man of God. I don't think it was so much what he said but just that I could actually tell when he said it, he believed it. Even though I didn't feel like I was a good woman at the time, the fact that he believed it made me believe it. That compliment changed me completely and gave me so much self worth.

It's difficult to understand what others are going through or dealing with just by looking from the outside. I'm sure there are those who wear a smile even when they feel like they're dying inside, as I did for many years. And then there are those who display that they're dealing with terrible things. There are so many hardships in this life and no one is exempt from turmoil. Yes we have different struggles but everyone goes through a struggle with something. We come into contact with so many people on a daily basis and many we will never see again. But that doesn't mean that our encounters are unimportant. We should be using each opportunity to make a difference in some one's life because it doesn't take much to do so. Just giving a smile, compliment, or kind word can extraordinarily lift some one's spirit or pick them up when they're feeling beat down. Until we get into the practice of considering feelings of so called strangers, it doesn't feel natural to go out of our way to brighten some one's day. When I go into a place of business and I'm encountered with someone who is rude or impolite, I treat them how I want them to act...not how they're acting. I wasn't always able to respond the correct way and it was hard at first to put other peoples feelings before my own. It's something I have to work on everyday. But how you respond to people makes a world of difference in how they will treat you in return.