The power of being nice
I had breakfast this morning with one of my mentors. She’s an amazing person and the most positive, energetic and generally nice person I’ve ever met. To know her is to love her. She’s one of those unique people who make you feel like you’re the center of the universe when she’s talking to you.
We had breakfast at one of her favorite restaurants and she was early (of course). When I sat down the waiter came over and politely asked me if I wanted coffee. At that moment, my friend started commenting on how great of a waiter he was and how attentive and thoughtful he was. She does that kind of thing and most people generally shrug off the compliment in an embarrassed kind of way.
This guy, however, stopped and shared with her how thoughtful that was and how much her comments meant to him personally. He said he had been going through a very hard time and struggling with his confidence lately and was feeling very insecure. Her words of encouragement had made him feel good about himself for the first time in days and he wanted her to know how grateful he was for her comments.
It was awesome for me to sit and witness such pure kindness and the effect that it can have on anyone. You never know what people you are talking to are going through and perhaps your words of encouragement are just what they needed to hear.
What a great story and a great reminder. Brought this one to mind for me :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v0RhvZ3lvY
She’s clearly been an inspiration to you over the years. You are one of the nicest and most encouraging people I’ve ever met.
#takesonetoknowone ;)
Awesome video, Kaitlyn. Glad you shared it, I was just at a conference and they were talking about it. Really great stuff!
This is so true! I’m not nearly as consistently nice as your friend (although I try!), but I had a moment like this a few months ago. As I reached into a newspaper box to grab the free daily Metro, I noticed a man behind me waiting his turn to do the same. I handed him my paper and reached in to grab another one for myself. It was the teeniest, littlest thing, yet he nearly teared up. He thanked me over and over, and said something about how there really is still kindness in the world after all. I can’t imagine what else must have been going on in his life to put him in a place where he was so grateful for such a small gesture, yet I was so glad I had taken an extra 3 seconds of my day to be kind. You never know when it is going to go a long, long way!
Sarah, that’s an awesome story, thanks for sharing! It’s amazing (and kinda surprisingly sad) how such little acts of kindness can make a huge difference in someone’s life. Really shines a light on how infrequent those kind of interactions are!