The Secret of Kindness

I was talking about the kindness of strangers recently and my upset client asked what kindness! And I said,  sometimes you can help someone who you don't know and won't get to know - in the supermarket,  in the post office,  filling out a form,  and it's nothing for you but eases their day... and then sometimes someone will do it for you.  When you are stressed and tired and they smile and help and you feel,  wow,  there are humans out there after all.  

It's important to remember that everyone around us is living out their life,  like we are,  having good and bad days,  as we are,  and if we can help them,  and they can do the same for us,  it makes a real difference to our shared reality. 

Of course,  some days I'm sad, mad or anxious one,  unable to give kindness,  no one can do it every day.  But every day that I can,  is a better day for me. That's the secret of kindess - in the giving,  you get to feel better... 

All information is useful…

I have been reading cards for over 25 years, both here and in the UK and in Australia. When I got to the US, I started reading for friends, and then friends of friends, but eventually that group started to wear thin. One day, in late 2009, I looked at the latest Groupon email and thought, maybe I could expand through them…

When I contacted them, their representative was not receptive. "No, we won’t consider you, you’re not professional."
What do you mean I’m not professional? I’ve been doing it for years.
"You’re not on Yelp, you’re not on City Search, we’re not interested."

And she hung up, leaving me feeling very unsettled and rather depressed. It took me a week or so, as I mulled over it, and I came to realize that she had given me really good information. So I looked up Yelp and Citysearch, and, shaking off any anxieties, I got myself listed on both of them.


In a full circle, about 7 months later someone from Groupon rang me - "We’ve seen your amazing reviews on Yelp and Citysearch, would you like to be on Groupon?" Their offer didn’t work out financially for me, but was I very pleased that they had rung!

That’s what I mean when I tell people all information is useful. Even when it is something you don’t expect or want to hear, once you know it, you can use it, and improve your situation.