Did you ever stop to think about the impact you have on the people around you? Pause and think about this for a moment.
When You Thought I Wasn’t Looking
by Mary Rita Schilke Sill
When you thought I wasn’t looking
You hung my first painting on the refrigerator, and I wanted to paint another.
When you thought I wasn’t looking
You fed a stray cat, and I thought it was good to be kind to animals.
When you thought I wasn’t looking
You baked a birthday cake just for me, and I knew that little things were special things.
When you thought I wasn’t looking
You said a prayer, and I believed there was a God that I could always talk to.
When you thought I wasn’t looking
You kissed me goodnight, and I felt loved.
When you thought I wasn’t looking
I saw tears come from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but that it’s all right to cry.
When you thought I wasn’t looking,
You smiled – and it made me want to look that pretty too.
When you thought I wasn’t looking,
You cared, and I wanted to be everything I could be.
When you thought I wasn’t looking,
I looked and I wanted to say thanks for all the things you did.
When you thought I wasn’t looking.
This month reflect on the impact you have on the people around you…we never know the true impact we have on the people we interact with each day, but our actions always speak louder than our words, and they touch more lives that we could possibly imagine. Choose to live a life of kindness and you will never have to wonder what people saw when you thought they weren’t looking. A life of kindness is not something to live only when it suits you or when it’s easy or convenient. Sure, most of us are nice because it is easy to be nice. In fact, nice requires very little effort, it is passive and benign. You can smile at a salesperson or hold the door open for someone and be nice, but I challenge you to extend yourself. Ask how you can help, offer a hand to someone in need, jump in without being asked, go beyond the superficial, aspire to be kind and caring, let go of your judgments and accept people as they are and watch the world around you, and in you, change.