[2021-06-25] Sow some kindness

One of my favourite stories, which I've shared before, is captured well in A Year of Positive Thinking:

A woman walked up to a gate of a guarded community and asked, "What kind of people are here in your community?"
The man at the gate replied, "What kind of people are there where you are from?"
"Well, they are mean, rude, nasty, and short-sighted," she said.
"You will find the same people here," he told her.

A few minutes later, another woman walked up to the man and asked, "What kind of people are here in this community?"
The man at the gate replied, "What kind of people are there where you are from?"
"They are kind, loving, authentic, and good," she said.
"You will find the same people here," he told her.

Cyndie Spiegel, author of A Year of Positive Thinking, concludes the story by saying: "And so it is. We often find exactly what we believe we will."

In addition to finding what they expected, I believe that the two women reaped what they sowed. Perhaps the first woman encountered mean, rude, nasty, short-sighted people because that was the way she behaved, while the second woman found kind, loving, authentic and good people because that was the way she behaved.

I thought of this story as I continued to listen to Atomic Habits. James Clear notes that our habits can compound for or against us. With respect to relationships, Clear says:

People reflect your behavior back to you. The more you help others, the more others want to help you. Being a little bit nicer in each interaction can result in a network of broad and strong connections over time.

I have experienced this in spades in recent months as a broad network of relatives, friends, colleagues, acquaintances―some old, some new―have reached out to me to share their best wishes, positive words and gifts, both tangible and intangible.

I'm also reminded of this beautiful exchange between the mole and the boy in The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse:

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
"Kind," said the boy.

Sow some kindness today.

Photo credit: Bryan Hollington