Tag: kindness

‘Gooded’ to

Jennifred Jones

Crazy, word, crazy thought!…but it came to mind last month and I believe it is a valid point!

That’s something I love about words and the English language, (might be the same in other languages which I am not  familiar with)…they can be mixed up and added to, twisted around saying several things at once through your own new word 🙂

So ‘gooded‘ came about.

It is a verb I invented from a noun.

Sometimes, just walking down the streets, shopping, driving, you see the ‘plight of humanity’. They may have all their needs met, look great, have a nice home and family, yet they are broken inside, lost in direction, existing from day to day.

‘How do you know all this and why are you making this statement?’ Because I have been there… I know the feelings, the pangs of inadequacy, lack of direction, self-worth…all of it!

People just need to be ‘gooded to’. They need to know/SEE that somebody else sees them, acknowledges their presence and places value on them, and everything will work out!

The mother shopping with 3 kids, one a screaming child. She needs a smile and kind word, “You have a beautiful family”. That’s all she might need to calm her feelings of ‘I’m failing motherhood in public’.

The new waiter who mixes up your orders…’You’re doing fine, we’ll wait, it’s ok’ then leave him a nice tip.

Your own child when he comes home from school, has a bad evening and needs some extra TLC. Fix him a special little bedtime snack tray and watch a funny cartoon together.

So much of ‘gooding’ on people is so simple!!!

Let your kindness flow out in a smile, a kind word, a thoughtful gesture. This is basic stuff folks. We’re all good at it, we just need to do it.

Now, go ‘good’ on somebody. Good on yourself too!

Why the Lighthouse?

Jennifred Jones

I mentioned the lighthouse in a previous post.

What is it about a lighthouse that is so endearing?

Besides their unique structural stability and charm, they represent something else.

Valiant men have risked their lives and died building lighthouses to save lives…that ships at sea might not crash, be broken and sink because they couldn’t see the danger there.

Said James Ward Hyland III, President and Founder of the Lighthouse Preservation Society of Newbury Port, Massachussetts:

“Lighthouses appeal to the interest and better instinct of man because they are symbolic of never-ceasing watchfulness, of steadfast endurance in every exposure, of widespread helpfulness. The building and the keeping of the lights is a picturesque and humanitarian work of the nation.”

Somehow, just knowing that someone cares for you, is watching out for you, makes life easier to live. We all need those somebodies. We all need to be those somebodies.

These characteristics in people are what make a nation great and bring out the best in each other.

Loving, Kindness, Courage, Care….Let these be found in me.

Please join with me.

Somebody vs Nobody

Jennifred Jones

Last post, I related a story about the man coming into the office angry and trying to deposit his ‘people-pain’ on me. I mentioned how my response was kind and friendly even though his actions were undeserving; but isn’t that the way life is? None of us deserve good treatment, but we are obligated to treat all humans with respect and kindness, being an example of what we’d like to see from them. “Do unto others as you would like done unto you.” Sometimes that is very hard to remember, much less do. But it is a possible goal…it won’t be done perfectly or often enough, but it is a goal I’m striving for. Back to the gentleman previously mentioned. As an experiment in people, I have treated him very kindly since that experience and guess what? He came into the office another time and I wished him a good day and he said with his back to me, “Same to you.” What a surprise!!! That was the most positive thing I’d heard from him ever! The next time he came in, I wished him a good day again and this time he replied, “Have a good day.” Again still not facing me when he spoke, but this was progress none-the-less! He has been in several more times since and his demeanor is changing for the better each time. I think some people have in their minds from previous episodes in their lives, thought patterns that they have to act, react or think and respond in certain ways. They don’t see other options. By treating them with kindness and respect and just being good to them, I believe it raises the bar in their lives by raising the bar in their own eyes of who they are. They begin to see themselves as someone worth something to someone else and because they are now a somebody and not a nobody, they begin to treat others as somebodies and not nobodies. Try this experiment in you own life and see what good results they bring.