BE KIND!

I get phone calls all the time from people asking me to donate to their charity. I am always very polite in telling them that I do not give donations over the phone but if they'd like to send me something in the mail I would be happy to take a look at it. Usually the callers understand and are happy to send me something in the mail. Ok, back up for a second. I don't like to donate to anyone that calls...I have preferred causes due to the fact that I know someone that is affected by the cause. So that being said...I get this phone call for someone asking for money for breast cancer. Great cause...I'm all for it. This is such a scary thing and so widely spread. But after I told the lady that I don't do donations over the phone - she said that's fine but in order to send me something in the mail I would need to commit to a certain dollar amount. Um, excuse me? I'm not committing to anything until I see some info in the mail. I like to do a little research before I hand over any amount of money. There are PLENTY of scams out there and I'd hate to fall victim to something like that. So I said "no, I don't want to commit to anything but please..." and I was about to finish with "send me some information in the mail so I can take a look at it." - but the lady was so rude that she cut me off midsentence...said something (I still don't know what she said because I was still talking) and hung up on me. !!! I almost did a *69 to tell someone there that this person is not doing their charity any favors by being so rude...but I got over it. Rudeness is a serious pet peeve of mine. Lack of courtesy...rudeness...it's all uncalled for. In this crazy world people get so wrapped up in themselves and their own agendas that they forget to be kind. I leave you with some great quotes about kindness. There are so many good ones out there it was hard to pick just a few.

"Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair but manifestations of strength and resolution." -- Kahil Gibran

"Kindness is an inner desire that makes us want to do good things even if we do not get anything in return. It is the joy of our life to do them. When we do good things from this inner desire, there is kindness in everything we think, say, want and do." -- Emmanuel Swedenborg

"Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom." -- Theodore Isaac Rubin

"Kindness is tenderness. Kindness is love, but perhaps greater than love...Kindness is good will. Kindness says, "I want you to be happy." -- Randolph Ray

"Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless." -- Mother Teresa

"There is no better exercise for your heart than reaching down and helping to lift someone up." -- Bernard Meltzer

Drop a pebble in the water,
And its ripples reach out far,
And the sunbeams dancing on them,
May reflect them to a star.
Give a smile to someone passing,
Thereby making his morning glad,
It may greet you in the evening
When your own heart may be sad.
Do a deed of simple kindness,
Though its end you may not see,
It may reach like widening ripples
Down a long eternity.
~Joseph Norris

Think about this last one...kindness doesn't have to be a big thing to DO things.
Smiles!
Cami