“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the greatest intention.” Kahlil Gibran
No strings attached.
A few weeks ago, I asked Gail Miller this question on the podcast: when did someone do something kind for you, with no strings attached? You can listen to her answer—and more of her story—or read this week’s LinkedIn newsletter.
I had the experience with a little kindness myself this past week.
I woke up sick on Saturday at 1:00am (yes, 1:00am!) and was never able to go back to sleep.
I’d caught a cold.
That morning, our college-age daughter offered, without being asked, to go to the store, buy oranges, make freshly-squeezed orange juice, and a nourishing meal of grilled salmon and cod, pilaf with dried apricots and stir-fried kale with almond slivers.
Kindness.
No strings attached.
I am wondering, do I ever do that for people?
I hope so.
But it’s hard to know.
We often don’t know how something small we say or do can land in the tender place.
A stray action can sometimes hurt deeply, but it also means unsolicited kindness can make a person feel loved and nurtured. It’s like when we were young children, and we were cared for, not because of anything we could do in return, but because we couldn’t do anything in return.
We were cared for––just because we were cared for.
It is sometimes hard to know how to do this for people, but the thought came to me: sometimes a person, an idea, alights in our mind and heart. An impulse to say thank you, to say hello, to say I’m thinking of you, even just to smile in passing. I like the way my friend Jan-Erik thinks of this: “This is God saying I’m thinking of this person; will you think about them too.”
That’s what I want to be thinking about this week.
When has someone done something kind for you, with no strings attached?
How might you cultivate this in yourself? Being kind simply to be kind –– where there is nothing discernible to be gained.
This week’s podcast is with Diana Kander, co-author of Go Big or Go Home: 5 Ways to Create a Customer Experience That Will Close the Deal. You must listen to this episode.
She is delightful, and memorable, as you would expect given the book title. And to give you a teaser, part of what’s memorable about her is that she immigrated to the U.S. as a refugee. Going home wasn’t a possibility, so she went big. And great tips in here, including making the pitch [well, I guess you’ll just need to listen…], and never underestimate the power of 3-D objects.
As always, thanks for being here!
All best,
Whitney
