As kids going to Catholic school, we were asked every year what we would be giving up. More often than not, the answer was candy, or gum, or chocolate. Something really tough for a kid to not have until Easter Sunday.
Just yesterday, at the office where I work, the conversation turned to Lent and what everyone was going to "give up". Someone said cursing, someone said sugar. I felt like I was back in third grade! LOL.
As we got talking about it, we all said "why give up something?". Why not make an effort to be extra kind to someone every day... ya know, that old "random act of kindness". In a perfect world, everyone would be extra kind to everyone every day. But we all know that's a little far fetched. We can't all be sunshine and lollipops all day every day.But we decided that for the 40 days of Lent, it would be a good test to see if we could do a kindness every day. So here's what we're doing: each day, we will each draw the name of another person (there are only 6 of us), and for that day, we have to come up with a compliment or something positive that we like about that person. Today I was told that the sweater I was wearing looked pretty.
What a great idea! I think this is fun. It isn't always easy to be positive and give compliments, especially if you're having a bad day and feel like telling everyone you come in contact with to take a flying leap! It puts things in perspective and makes you sit back and think for a minute. And when you receive a compliment, it puts a smile on your face.
I mean, who knows... by the time Good Friday rolls around, we might all just feel like telling each other to stick it where the sun don't shine. But for now, it's a simple thing that may not be changing the world.... but it's a feeling of comraderie among the 6 of us. And putting little smiles on our faces.
