Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 77 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

I Shall Not Pass This Way Again (Part 2)

Thank you for joining us for our 7 day a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 77 of our Trek, and yesterday we looked at how important it is to make sure that our impact on others through our spoken word is always good, helpful, and encouraging. Today and tomorrow we want to put our words into action through practicing both planned and random acts of kindness.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was nice to be able to sleep in a bit this morning, as this was our first time in several weekends that we have been able to. I am not sure about you, but for me I need to occasionally have a day or two of sleeping in later than usual to recharge my batteries. I realize that it would be best if I got the proper sleep every night, which I am working toward, but sleeping in this morning was greatly needed. Weekends are also good for me to get caught up on some of the miscellaneous work related projects that seem to slip by during the week.

So, let’s start out on our trail today looking for ways that we can show kindness to others.  Kindness, as we looked at way back on Day 6 of our Trek, is such an important attribute that we should have in our lives. Being kind to others is a powerful way to put our talk into actions and is one of the fruits, or outward manifestations, of a loving heart toward others.

Kindness should be planned, when possible, but performing random and unplanned acts of kindness to others each day should also be part of who we are as people. At first, completing random acts of kindness may not be natural for you, but the more times you do it, the easier it will become until it becomes a habit in your life.

So, as we hike on up our trail today and tomorrow, we will explore 15 steps that we can take on our trek of life to set these habits in place. Think about how kindness can be a fundamental part of creating a living legacy. Indeed it needs to be woven into the very fabric of our lives, so it is part of who we are.

Being kind is a choice that we make. Look for opportunities at all times to be kind. This is so important that Proverbs 3:3-4 puts it this way, "Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart.  Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation."

Random acts of kindness are a means by which we make a deliberate attempt to brighten another person's day by doing something thoughtful, nice, and caring. Kindness is a way of showing others that they are special and important. Even when the world is unkind, we need to be known for our kindness to all. Our kindness should not be dependent on if a person deserves it but rather our desire to be kind.

Here are the first 6 steps on our trail for encouraging others with our random acts of kindness.

Step #1:

Be kind. Kindness as an attitude is infectious. When you're willing to share your kindness, others will be inspired by your example and think about doing something kind themselves. Fan that flame by being kind to everyone.

Step #2:

Be thoughtful. Random acts of kindness can be shown through thoughtfulness about the needs of others. How many times do you wish someone could have been more thoughtful before they did or said something? Try to be an example of this for others to follow.

Put someone else first. If you get to the grocery store check-out line at the same time as someone else, smile and wave them through first.

When you're stuck in traffic and the last thing you want to do is let a car get in...