A Matter of Perspective

I've recently started noticing the nice things people do. I mean, actively looking for people reaching out or just doing a random act of kindness. Why, you may ask? Let me tell you.

The other day, I was walking with an armful of books. I was approaching a door and started to wonder how I was going to get the door open, but I saw with relief that there was a guy in front of me who would get to the door first. I tried to hurry because I didn't want to keep the gentleman who was going to hold the door open for me waiting. I reached the door just in time for it to close in my face. To say I was frustrated would definitely be an understatement. The rest of the day, I kept getting more and more frustrated at the lack of niceness I saw. By the end of the day, I was fed up. I decided the next day to try and do the opposite. I was tired of being frustrated- maybe if I looked for nice things the next day, I would feel better.

Begin next day. A guy jogged a little to get in front of a group so he could open the door for all of them. I saw a group of people pray at lunch. I saw a girl invite another guy (who I usually saw sitting by himself) to join her and her friends at their table at dinner. My friend was carrying a huge box and dropped a pen, and a guy walked over to pick it up and put it on the box for her. And the list goes on. These may seem like small things, but it was so encouraging to me how much kindness you could see in one day if you actually looked! I realized it wasn't that one day everyone was rude and the next day everyone was nice. It was just a matter of perspective. It was what I was looking for. I find that I am so much more happy and encouraged if I make a conscious effort to look for the good around me, as opposed to letting the bad get me down. This is my challenge for the week. Get a notebook and if you see someone do something nice for someone, write it down. You'll be surprised how quickly the list grows.

Be Salt and Light!
~Hannah~