A Kindness Boomerang
A friend sent me a Reel of the most joyous, spontaneous, double dip of kindness that I watched at least 10 times. The reason it resonated so much with me is that both of the people involved with these acts of kindness seemed to react by gut instinct. Here’s what happened:
In a baseball game with the Royals VS. the Angels, a fan in his 20’s catches a fly ball. He beams like an excited child raising the ball in a fist pump of happiness. In the next second he looks down 2 rows and sees a little boy, about 8 years old with a mitt on his hand, staring up at him and he spontaneously tosses the ball to the little boy. He catches the ball in his mitt and you can tell that his day has been made. Unbelievably, a couple of innings later, the little boy’s dad catches a home run ball and gives it immediately to his son. Without missing a beat, the little boy turns around, points up to the nice guy 2 rows back and returns the kindness by throwing him that game ball. The 20 year age difference didn’t matter at all. Kindness is felt and understood by little children and our elders and everyone in between. Now they each have a souvenir and a memory to last a lifetime!
I believe that our natural instinct is kindness. The positive energy that was released in those stands and caught on film is a perfect testament to that old adage “what comes around goes around.” Or, my favorite coaching idea of what you put out into the universe comes back to you. This literal example of what I am going to call a kindness boomerang was so unexpected but the special sauce here is that neither the guy nor the little boy took time to overthink their reaction. They just acted on what felt right and I feel certain that they both left the ball park happier then when they entered.
Kindness is an action verb. It’s not static but fluid and has an energy that is completely contagious and comes back to you. I invite you to open up to all the interactions going on around you and act on those gut instincts to connect through kindness. We’re all familiar with the phrase that was instituted by Homeland Security after the September 11, 2001 attacks – “If you see something, say something.” Let’s turn that meaning inside out and adopt a positive meaning for that phrase – “if you see something that elicits a positive thought…..say something.” Don’t keep kindness to yourself. SHARE IT! Let people know that you appreciate their good service, or their warm welcome, or their inclusiveness or their support. Once you release your kind thought, the feel good energy will boost your recipient’s day and boomerang back to make your day better too!
I grew up with my mother saying, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” While this philosophy does have its place, why wasn’t the positive version the one we all grew up with – “If you HAVE something nice to say, say it!” Imagine a world where we encouraged our children, friends, colleagues to share their kind thoughts and actions as often as they can. Kindness is expansive, empowering, liberating and connecting. Who doesn’t want more of that in their lives!
That little boy could have had one heck of a show and tell at school the next day bringing in not one but two game balls from the same pro baseball game. Instead, he has one ball to show and one perfect illustration of a kindness boomerang to tell.
