Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that kindness cascades. When you are kind to someone,
Speaker 1: it's highly likely that that person will be just a
Speaker 1: little kinder to others too. Those folks might then show
Speaker 1: more kindness to the other people in their lives. The
Speaker 1: kindness keeps rippling down, which is much better than this
Speaker 1: working in the opposite direction. So, if you've ever been
Speaker 1: driving through roadwork that necessitated one lane merging into another,
Speaker 1: you may have noticed an interesting phenomenon. Now, ideally this
Speaker 1: would be a zipper merge sort of situation, but not
Speaker 1: everyone knows to do that. So in the normal run
Speaker 1: of things, where one lane of traffic feels like they
Speaker 1: have possession of the continuing lane, if you let someone
Speaker 1: merge in front of you, that person is more likely
Speaker 1: to let someone else merge in front of them, and
Speaker 1: that means you don't wind up with stopped cars in
Speaker 1: one lane, with people honking and frustrated. Who knows exactly
Speaker 1: why this happens. Maybe when someone lets you merge, you're
Speaker 1: so relieved that you want to let someone else feel
Speaker 1: that relief too. Or maybe you realize you had to
Speaker 1: rely on someone else's kindness to get out of the
Speaker 1: traffic jam, and so you feel less self protective and
Speaker 1: more gracious you are inclined to let others merge too.
Speaker 1: Or maybe it's just that a new norm is established
Speaker 1: for a moment and everybody accepts for a time that
Speaker 1: this is the community expectation. Whatever the specifics of our
Speaker 1: thought process, one person's kindness can spark a chain reaction
Speaker 1: of kindness from other people too. Kindness cascades. Sometimes the
Speaker 1: cascade of kindness is similar and kind to the first kindness.
Speaker 1: Other times, though one kindness paves the way for something
Speaker 1: of a different flavor. Someone lets you merge in front
Speaker 1: of them, and you arrive at your workplace and notice
Speaker 1: a colleague carrying a heavy load into the building. You
Speaker 1: offer to help out. Then that person sees there's very
Speaker 1: little coffee left and makes a new pot. The generosity
Speaker 1: and community mindedness continue. Or perhaps your partner makes the
Speaker 1: bed even though that's your job, and you decide to
Speaker 1: unload the dishwasher even though that's your partner's job. Or
Speaker 1: maybe you end your team meeting with praise and gratitude
Speaker 1: for all your team has accomplished in the past week.
Speaker 1: They leave feeling good, and they go back to their
Speaker 1: desks much more inclined to be appreciative of the people
Speaker 1: they interact with. When you do something kind, you may
Speaker 1: be benefiting not only the direct beneficiary of your kindness,
Speaker 1: but also the next few people that person interacts with.
Speaker 1: You may not see all the wonderful ripples flowing out
Speaker 1: from your act of kindness, but it feels good to
Speaker 1: imagine what you might have set in motion. It's kind
Speaker 1: to let others imagine that too, So when you are
Speaker 1: a recipient of a kindness, see what you can do
Speaker 1: to pass it on. It really doesn't take much. We
Speaker 1: all want to live in a kind world, and one
Speaker 1: little act of kindness may set in motion myriad kindnesses.
Speaker 1: That is a much better scenario than all of us
Speaker 1: getting increasingly miffed at each other. In the meantime. This
Speaker 1: is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
Speaker 1: most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear
Speaker 1: from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b E the
Speaker 1: number four, then breakfast pod. You can also shoot me
Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com
Speaker 1: that before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, should I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts
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