Try A Little Kindness

I have been thinking about kindness a lot lately.  Listening to the lyrics to Mad World yesterday (written by Roland Orzabal of Tears For Fears) put such a sadness in my heart.  My son said, "Wow, he must have been really depressed when he wrote this". You would think, listening to the song that he was on the verge of jumping from a building.  In all actuality, Orzabal was just simply making a statement based upon his observation of people while peering outside his window.  A simple observation told him there were a lot of hurting people in our world. Yesterday, I was running through my Twitter feed and saw a tweet about anger being nothing other than the depth of someone's hurt (not a direct quote). If we could get into the habit of seeing things this way, perhaps our responses would not only change our perspective of others but maybe it would be a catalyst for change in this world.

You know, I think it would be quite wonderful if we didn't see this as a "Mad World".  Would it be too difficult to extend a kindness to someone else today?  A simple hello or how are you just isn't enough anymore.  Those greetings have become too cliche in America.  We all know when we ask someone how they are that more often than not, we don't want to hear.  It has become a superficial way of being polite.  Now, when people come into my office and I ask how they are, I DO want to know.  It means a lot to me and it also helps me to be a better service provider to them. We cannot tout ourselves as being top notch with customer service if we truly don't care. Knowing someone's circumstance can make all of the difference in the world to them and to me. I understand there are days when the office is so busy you may not have extra time to listen. In that case, bypass the socially acceptable, "How are you?" when people come in the door.  Just greet them with a huge smile and hello.  Let them know how special they are not only because they are your customer but because you see them as a person.  You can do that by complimenting them or by sharing an encouraging message when it is obvious they are down.

Allow me to elaborate, when I say encouraging, I don't mean sharing religious quotes or asking if they have been to church lately (that gets my goat more than anything when people do that to me).  We need to be very wary about doing this in any business setting. We can be encouraging by saying, "Hey, I can tell you're feeling really down today and I would like you to know that things will get better.  I've had some hard times in my life, been unemployed, lost a loved one (etc, fill in the blank with something brief, not your life story) and man, I wondered if it would ever get better, but it did.  So, hang in there, you're such a good person who deserves good things and they are just around the corner."  I remember reading a story not too long ago about a man who was planning to commit suicide. It was someone's kind words (not a friend, just a stranger) that gave him the encouragement to keep pressing on.  We don't know how many people are ready to just end it all.  In the self storage business, we see people from all walks of life and many are here not because they want to be, but because they have to be and we should be mindful of that when renting to anyone who walks through our front door.

Take some time today and think about how you would like to extend kindness to others.  When you give it, you often get it back as well.  As a matter of fact, the rule of thumb is: whatever we give, we get back.  And sometimes we get it back twice as much as we gave it.  The television show "My Name Is Earl" gives a great depiction of how it works both ways.



Now, keep in mind, being kind to everyone doesn't always mean THAT particular person will reciprocate.  However, they have their own "Karma" lesson to learn.  What normally happens is an unexpected kindness directed at you in another circumstance and sometimes even bigger than what you extended.  Just don't get caught up in being offended by the person who didn't reciprocate to miss what good things you have coming to you.  And it WILL come back to you.  It is all very much worth it.   Give it a try today.


Have a great day!

Michelle Armstrong
Manager
Star Storage
816-765-7300