The Kindness We Extend

Well team, here we are again. As you can see, it’s Workshop Wednesday.

My quote today is: “The kindness we extend today is the mercy we receive tomorrow.” Now, some of you are wondering, “Well, that’s interesting.”

The kindness we extend today is the mercy we receive tomorrow.

The author of that quote is, well, yours truly—me. I wrote a short story recently, and I liked it. My wife liked it. I have a few friends that told me I should write a book and extend the story, which is very humbling. But the concept behind the quote—the kindness we extend today, the things you do today—sometimes comes back full circle.

In the Bible, it says, “You reap what you sow.” You will reap exactly what you sow. So, whatever you plant, you will harvest. Other people will say, “It’s that 360″—you get what you deserve, or the energy you put into this world, you receive back. Karma is another word people in other sectors of life might use. But it’s really true.

What you put into this world will return to you.

Reaping and sowing is a good analogy for it. I’ve come to realize that the kindness I extend in so many different relationships comes back to me in a harvest of mercy and grace in my life. Sometimes from the same people, and sometimes from others. The reverse is true too—when I’m harsh and not kind, I sometimes receive back harshness or a lack of kindness.

So I want you to think about this: What kindness are you extending today into the lives around you? Are you forgiving others? Are you being kind and generous and encouraging and uplifting to your teammates, your family, and those around you? Chances are, the mercies you receive tomorrow—for your failures and for your mistakes—will be shaped by how you treat others today.

Do you forgive others for their mistakes? Or are you constantly looking down on others, pointing fingers, and asking why they can’t be better? It doesn’t help a person get better by telling them they’re awful. Most of the time, we beat up ourselves when we’re awful.

The kindness you can extend by helping, teaching, coaching, mentoring, lifting, and encouraging will come back to you—in mercy, kindness, love, and respect—as time goes on.

Maybe you’ll fall, maybe you’ll make a mistake. Maybe you’ll do something not quite right. And maybe you’ll have others extend to you the same kindness and mercy.

I’ve been sharing this with my boys recently. It’s tough sometimes, having two boys in fairly close proximity in age. That concept of “two wrongs don’t make a right,” or “an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” Explaining to my boys that putting each other down, being rude to each other, being mean to each other, pushing and fighting—those things are not acts of grace, love, kindness, or generosity. And it doesn’t bring those things back to you either.

It’s something I’m actively working on with my family and my boys. They’re great kids. They are very kind and generous to others, but sometimes it’s hard to be generous to the person closest to you. For them, since their rooms are just right across the hall from each other, it can be a challenge. Jonathan’s growing and about to be a teenager. David’s still younger. So it’s about trying to share the same interests but also have your own, grow and shape and change.

Those are very similar dynamics to what happens at work. We share interests, but we also have differences.

Can we extend kindness so that we can receive mercy down the road?Something for you to think about this Workshop Wednesday.

I want to wish you a wonderful rest of your week and say God bless you. It’s hard to believe June is marching on. We have our barbecues coming up—don’t forget—July 9th and July 16th. They’re going to be epic, they’re going to be fun, they’re going to be a blast. They’re going to be hot—but we’ve got water balloons to combat the heat.

Just make sure you’re wearing something you can get wet in, because you’re probably going to get wet. Not always, but hey—enjoy and have fun. You’ll dry. Trust me—my boys live in the water, and they dry out every night.

God bless you guys. I’ll see you next week. And until then, remember: Be Valuable. Nothing Less Will Do. See you guys.