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March 2006
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Nurturing Newsletter
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Dear Catherine,
Welcome to the March edition of my Nurturing
Newsletter. I hope that you will gather some
valuable
information.
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No Act of Kindness is Ever Wasted |
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by Catherina Kao
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Have you ever been having a bad day that suddenly
changed for the better when a stranger smiled at
you? How often has an unexpected compliment made
your whole day brighter? Or being let into the grocery
store line ahead of someone who had a cart full of
groceries so you could pay for your one or two items?
You never know how a small gesture such as an
unexpected smile can affect someone's day or on a
grander scale, their life? When we treat others
pleasantly and with consideration, we show them
that they are important.
There have been several times when I had car
trouble or a flat tire, and a man stopped to help me.
Though I was careful ( I never let them take me
anywhere ) and only allowed them to help with the
problem, I don't know what I would have done
without their help. And though I often offered to give
them something for their trouble, they would just
wave as they got back into their cars and watched
me safely drive away.
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Small Things Can Affect Someone's Life |
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A long time ago I had a short-term job in public
relations. My job was to contact newspaper editors
by phone in order to send them out a how-to article
that mentioned a particular non-fiction self help book.
I was to get these articles printed for free. This was
not an easy assignment and at first I had a great
difficulty. I found that my articles did not survive the
editors' vetting services until I developed
relationships with the editors. They would tell their
assistants, "I'm waiting for this article from this
person" and my article would get in print. In order to
develop relationships, I had to find out what was
important to these editors. One editor was a
passionate fan of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Though
I was not a football fan, I knew enough about
football that I could ask him intelligent questions and
we would talk about the recent Cornhuskers games.
Later, he sold the newspaper (he was the editor and
the owner) and I left that job for another better
paying one. Years later, I was a tax preparer and the
guy who sat down in front of me to get his taxes
done said, "your voice sounds so familiar to me, but I
Can't place where I might know you from." After our
life locations and associations failed to turn up a link,
he thought for a moment and his face brightened
up. " Did you work for XYZ Company in Public
Relations?" When I nodded, he said, " I used to own
a newspaper and I remember talking to this girl
almost weekly about Cornhusker games. Was that
you?" Again I nodded. He said " Let me tell you how
profoundly you affected my life," It turned out that
he was so interested in the articles I had sent him
that he read the book and it changed his life. Can
you imagine how I felt when he told me that a small
gesture over a short period of time had completely
changed the course of his life for the better? At that
moment I realized the importance of small gestures. I
could never have predicted that something small that
I did would change someone's life, just as you might
never know how much a smile or a compliment might
affect someone's life.
Another time, I had just come to the end of my
first marriage and was feeling broken,used up,
and old. I rented a room in a large house shared by
two families, and it was the best experience of my
life. I can't tell you how much it meant to me at that
time in my life when I felt so worthless that there
were people who told me how special I was, how
wonderful I was and how beautiful I was. I remember
one of my roommates telling me almost everyday that
I was a shining star. Their love so freely shared with
a stranger and their constant admiration of me and
my abilities encouraged me to heal.To pick myself up
and make a new life. I can't predict where my life
might have gone if not for their love and the help I
got from them. They are still special to me almost 20
years later and I consider them my greatest friends.
One day, years later after I was remarried to my
present husband and doing well, I asked my friend
why she had been so encouraging and admiring of
me. She replied, " We saw that you had been beaten
down. You needed to believe in your self again and
we just wanted to help you do that so you would
realize how very special you are." It brings tears to
my eyes as I write this, because of the effect it
wrought in my life.
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Small Gestures Can Do BIG Things |
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This is what you create with smiles, compliments and
small gestures. Whether it be to a stranger on the
street, or a co-worker, or a neighbor, or a member of
your family, or a friend you can sometimes never
know how much the small gesture or smile or
compliment you gave meant to its recipient. Aesop,
the legendary writer of Aesop's Fables once said, "No
act of kindness is ever wasted"
It is so easy to be kind. I have a favorite saying, "
Kindness doesn't cost". I have found through
experience that my life is a better place through the
kindness that I have given to others. I am often the
recipient of unexpected kindness because I strive in
my daily life to be kind to others.Kindness and
consideration of others is one of the nurturer's daily
mottoes. The world is a better place as you practice
random acts of kindness. Remember the movie " Pay
It Forward"? Each time that a person received an act
of kindness, he was told to pay it forward. In other
words, he was told to do something kind to someone
else. Though the movie did not end the way it
should have, its message was important: Be kind to
others in your everyday life. This is the nurturer's
way. It is with the kindness to others that they heal
and we reap kindness ourselves. And the world is a
better place, all because we show that we care
about others in our daily life. We prove conclusively
that no man is an island.
So to sum this up: Perform random acts of kindness
in your daily life. You never know what wonderful
effects the small gesture that cost you nothing will
produce.
I hope this helped you on your nurturing journey!
Please forward this newsletter to anyone who
you
feel may benefit from its information. Look for my
next newsletter for more tips on creating a Nurturing
Home.
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