Kindness

The quotes below convey a message that I don't think we teach our children powerfully enough. Kindness to others matters. It counts more than almost anything else you do in your life. I am constantly reminding my children to be kind to others. I hope that I lead them through my actions and my words and that they will grow up to encourage their peers rather than discouraging them. That they will listen sympathetically to a friend's problem rather than judging and mocking. That they will stand next to someone who feels all alone rather than taking the easier road and joining the crowd who has made that person lonely. That they will act selflessly instead of selfishly when faced with opportunities and challenges. I hope that this is your desire for your children as well.

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around." ~Leo Buscaglia

"You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Be thoughtful of others and you will not be shy, for they are incompatible addictions."  ~Robert Brault

"Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again."  ~Og Mandino

"Remember that everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something and has lost something. ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr."