“It’s Spring! Walking in the park to find a bench and have lunch was a great idea, Kelly! I’m bursting to tell you what happened to me since we had lunch together last month. Even at my age, I’m still learning new lessons to apply to my everyday living.” Colleen said.

Kelly scoffed. “Have you become ancient overnight? The last time I looked you were a foxy 35-year-old woman.”

“Well I was only comparing it to your young 20 years,” Colleen laughed “which reminds me of what I was going to tell you. I was shopping at the grocery store a couple of weeks ago. Funny, I was up on my toes, trying to reach a box of pasta from the top shelf. Things I need always seem to be where I cannot get them. When a long arm reached over and brought it down for me. I turned and it was Brad Bevins, our basketball star from high school days! ‘How kind! Thank you!’ Those were the first words out of my mouth before I even realized it was him.”

“He said, ‘you’re welcome, it’s just a small thing to do.’ I told him, ‘It’s a small thing for you, major to me, being a shorty.’ We chatted, catching up a bit. It’s been high school days since I’ve seen him. I did hear he was in a car accident earlier in the year and I mentioned it. He said he’s recovered with the kindness of a lot of people. With time to think while he was healing, he vowed to do kind things for people every day, strangers or not. It’s sort of a pay forward.”

Kelly commented, “That sounds like our last discussion at the employee’s training session, about spreading kindness not only to our residents but to each other, too.”

I’m sure it’s one of the reasons I don’t dread coming to work on Monday mornings. It makes all the difference in the daily work we do. Being generous is infectious and it works wonders in our community.

Kind Dining♥ promotes that kindness practiced will come naturally. It is another ability the food serving team needs to add to their improvement list.

Kindnesses used expand outward to include coworkers where offering a helping hand forms on-the-job friendships. Trust is formed when coworkers treat each other with kindness.

Encouraging the Golden Rule – treat others as you would like to be treated- is a perfect guideline for attitudes toward residents and coworkers.

Employees who are trusted and treated with kindness, remain with the company.

Be♥ Kind Tip: Kindness means listening, truly listening.