A Kind Word

Transcript

Lets talk about kind words.

When I was growing up, I didn’t fully realize how important it is to use words like please and thank you. I would say things to my parents like “Well do I really have to plead with my family to get them to do something?”

I guess I was a little spoiled or something like that. I didn’t realize how nice it was when someone does something for me. When they go out of their way and put in their effort to make my life a little easier.

I wasn’t grateful for that. Now I am, or I try to be.

Please and thank you are wonderful ways to express that and to remind ourselves to feel that gratitude for what others do for us.

One day my friend Daniel was on a bus in Sydney and he got off the bus and made a point as he always does of waving to the bus driver and says thank you.

The bus driver was so amazed that he stopped the bus and backed it up just to say to Daniel “Thank you for noticing me, thank you for acknowledging the work that I do.”

Never underestimate the value of a kind word. You never know what things people are going through.

Especially in the big city it can make a big difference. Sometimes people can get a bit cold, they can get a bit chilled after living in the big city, seeing so many people I have to shut off the empathy a little bit.

If we can show some warmth, it could make somebodies day.

In Japan they like to say “A kind word can warm three winter months.”

When I first read that saying, it sparked something in me. Changed something. And I started to realize how important it is to be kind.

About a year back I went with my nephew to a remote control track so he could play with his car.

My father was there and my nephew was saying to him “You need to do that and this” kind of ordering him around to get him to pick up the car and put him in a different place.

“You need to do this. You need to do this.”

And I said “Listen buddy, just try and relax a bit. Nobody needs to do anything for you so remember your grandpa is doing these things because he cares for you. He’s not doing it out of obligation. He might be kind of patient enough to accept when you say this in somewhat brass fashion. Maybe you can think about how your words impact others and how you can let them feel good about doing things for you.”

Every time you say the words please and thank you, you’re actually spreading a sort of message of universal love because you’re saying “You are worthy of respect. I notice you, I acknowledge you, I acknowledge your worth.”

I guess that’s why it’s so off putting when you see somebody being rude to a server in a restaurant like that because inherently we know this message of peace and universal love that in large part comes from our teacher, Jesus of Nazareth.

We know that, we know people are worthy of respect. We can feel it. It’s part of our culture and it’s part of our humanity.

Also when you say thank you, you probably notice a lot of time at the end of these episodes I say “Thank you for being this, thank you for being that.” It’s part of speaking truth into existence or being grateful for things that haven’t yet happened.

It’s a sort of prayer. Maybe when I’m doing that it’s a little bit manipulative in a way because what I’m trying to say is if you remember that movie Swingers and the main character has some doubts whether he can be confident with women.

And his friend says to him “Listen to me man, I’m not messing with you. You are so money and you don’t even know it.”

I acknowledge that deeper, purer part of yourself. That fine part that you can let shine.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for listening. And thank you for thinking beautifully.

And thank you for showing through the simple words how much respect you have for other people because I know you have it.

Have a great day and I’ll talk to you soon.