Little Kindnesses

Norman Rockwell's Thanksgiving

On this Thanksgiving while thinking about what I'm thankful for, so many things began spinning in my mind. As one thought led to another, I began to think about how we live our lives and what small actions that we take may be what someone else is thankful for.

There are examples that illustrate this through the ages in books and movies. Touching holiday films such as A Miracle on 34th Street. Or Dickens' A Christmas Carol whose premises, though written in 1843 hold as true today as they did then. Or a book like The Five People You Meet In Heaven.

While we were at the Chili's inside O'Hare last week eating our supper, a businessman sitting next to us stopped by before he left and thanked us. You see, he has two kids about the age of our kids and misses his family very much. We made his night, just by being able to simply watch our family sit, eat and banter.

I've written here about how choices that people make can so quickly effect others. But in contrast to the above mentioned post, so many of these choices are simple kindnesses that can change the course of someone else's day or life. A friend of mine posted this morning a simple quote from John Fitzgerald Kennedy that I think fits here perfectly: "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."

This Thanksgiving, take a moment to not only think about what you're thankful for, but how you live and what little things you can do to make those around you thankful.