Is Niceness Contageous? (by Faith)

The flu. A bad cough. Chicken pox. All of these things are contagious. But, what about niceness? Is it contagious too? I think it is. And here are just a few examples.

Someone from out of the country ordered bracelets and noticed we didn’t charge them enough shipping. She emailed to let us know, but my mom told her she would pay the extra postage. A few days later, we got this email: “We just received the bracelets today and they are lovely.  My daughter is already wearing hers and very much enjoying the fact that it is for a worthy cause. I have been very touched by your kind gesture and wanted to thank you for it. I knew the thing that would please you the most is a donation made to Make Change so that’s what I did. “ So we paid a measly $1.05 extra postage and to thank us, this kind stranger donated $75.00. Now THAT’S infectious niceness!

This same lady also shared other ways she makes change for others. She writes, “I make change by being there for my friends when they need me, calling my grand father and sending him blown out pictures because his sight isn’t good. I make change by meditating for Earth every week with a group of people from different places, over the Internet and I make change by being who I am, a therapist, a wife, a mother.”

            Another family writes: “Our family is relocating soon and I thought these bracelets would be a perfect reminder for my kids and myself and husband that WE can make the change- we can reach out to others, and not just let change happen to us.”

One last story is about how a family helps the homeless. They wrote “ We are thrilled to be supporting such a wonderful mission to help make a change in others life. One of the things my husband and I do, along with our five children, is every year on Christmas Eve, we make hundreds of sack lunches and take them to the homeless people in downtown Denver. We recently learned that what we were doing is illegal. Go figure! However, we have decided that since we have never gotten caught or had anyone confront us about it, we would continue to pass out the lunches until someone tells us not to.”

Both good and bad things can be contagious. Just like when my parents are in a good mood, our house is happy. When they are in a bad mood, you better watch out!  When I was little, we used to sing this song in church:

“I want to be kind to everyone

for that is right you see.

So I say to myself, remember this –

Kindness begins with me.”

Being a part of seeing people make change for others has had a big impact on how I see things now. Just like the song says, it begins with me, but there is no limit to where it ends.