Make a Difference Monday: Be Kinder Than Necessary

Jen over at Daily Mish Mash is making her "Mr. Linky" debut with Make a Difference Monday. (Check out the link for more details.)

This past weekend, we were visiting my mom and stepdad in PA near Amish Country. It's really beautiful there. The rolling hills, towering trees, horses, cows, the pond filled with geese at the end of my mom's street which my kids absolutely LOVE...It's a very pleasant change of scenery.

Not too far down the road is an Amish market with all kinds of home-cooked food, bakery items, handmade wooden furniture, handcrafted toys, quilts, and other home decor. My mom and I kept noticing the decorative wall hangings with inspirational quotes etched into the wood. The one that stood out to me read...

Be Kinder Than Necessary

I'm sure we've all had our share of encounters with not-so-nice people. Whether it's the check-out girl who doesn't even acknowledge your existence as she rings up your groceries, or the two women who are having a conversation in the middle of a narrow aisle blocking your path with their shopping carts as you are holding a squirming 2-year-old in one arm and trying to steer your cart with the other, or the person who just cut you off on the freeway causing you to have to swerve into the shoulder as he chats away on his cell phone...COME ON NOW, PEOPLE! We can do better than that!

It's the simple acts of kindness that really make a big difference. Holding a door for someone, a smile, an encouraging word, a compliment, letting someone with a couple items in front of your overflowing cart in the check-out line...even letting your hubby sleep in once in a while. (Definitely kinder than necessary...that one has to work both ways. haha!)

I appreciate these small acts of kindness and hope that by doing these things myself, I can make someone's day a little brighter.