I decided I needed a post to explain where the name of my movement came from. When evaluating my weaknesses and noticing that I needed to have more Christ-like love for everyone around me, I searched high and low to find literature on love. I read, pondered, and studied everything I could about love and charity. I knew that I wanted my movement to be based on this gospel principle but I didn't exactly know what to call it. I experimented with a lot of phrases that had love in them, but this idea was MORE than just loving. Sadly, I felt the word love was over-used and worn-out. I felt like most people didn't even really know what it meant anymore. I wanted something that would force people to open their eyes and go above and beyond. In a talk by President Thomas S. Monson (don't worry you don't have to be LDS to appreciate his words, they pretty much apply to everyone 😉) he points out that LOVE is the very essence of this life. It is the cornerstone of the gospel and if you believe in God, Jesus is our Exemplar. His life was a legacy of love; healing, lifting, forgiving, saving. We can say we love everyone around us, but actually having TRUE charity, which is Christ-like love, requires MORE of us. It requires action. It was essential I used a phrase that made people FEEL that call to action.
I knew I would only discover the perfect words if I did everything I could to educate myself on charity. Charity is the pure love of Christ. It is the love that Christ has for the children of men and that the children of men should have for one another. It is the highest, noblest, and strongest kind of love. When Christ was asked, what is the great commandment, He responded, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Then later He even reiterates the importance of these commandments by saying, "There is none other commandment greater than these." YALL. NONE OTHER. Think for a quick second about all the other commandments. One does come to my mind. Ohhh I don't know, you remember that one commandment that says something like, THOU SHALT NOT KILL? Yeah. That one. THAT COMMANDMENT IS NOT GREATER THAN LOVING YOUR GOD AND YOUR NEIGHBOR. How's that for importance? Really puts things into perspective, huh? I don't know about you, but reading that and REALLY hearing it, kind of makes me feel like a hideous monster. I've been AWFUL at loving my neighbor.
In Monson's talk, he references a quote by Dale Carnegie that I love. Carnegie believed that each person has within him or herself the "power to increase the sum total of the world's happiness…by giving a few words of sincere appreciation to someone who is lonely or discouraged. Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a lifetime." GUYS. We have the power to increase the sum total of the WORLD'S happiness! This idea became even more real for me when I met someone the other day and spent about 30 minutes talking to her. She truly was a gem, but I looked at it like just another conversation I had conquered. As I was leaving, we hugged and she said, "You just made my day! This was SO awesome!" Wait, WHAT? Meeee? Imagine what kind of impression YOU'RE leaving on the people who cross your path. Are they leaving an interaction with you angry and frustrated; maybe even sad? Or are they walking away having their day made!? One thing that helps me to see others in a brighter light is recognizing that we are all brothers and sisters of the same Father in Heaven. We're all on the same team!! Cue high school musical song: 🎼 "We're allllll in thisssss togetherrrrr…!" 🎤 You know you're singing it, stop. Yeah yeah yeah, brothers and sisters fight BUT aren't we all a little more patient and understanding with our own family members? I mean my sister used to FIGHT me and I still love her today. She even sent me Schitt's Creek themed cookies for my birthday this year. You can't get much better than that. 😂
As I continued to read Monson's talk, I came to a part where he shared one of his favorite poems about kindness.
I have wept in the night
For the shortness of sight
That to somebody's need made me blind;
But I never have yet
Felt a tinge of regret
For being a little TOO kind.
WOW. This resonated so strongly with me. I have been so crummy at putting up walls and shutting people out who I come in contact with in my day to day. I don't try. I don't go out of my way. I do everything to avoid interaction and when I HAVE to interact I don't feel like I'm as kind as I can be. It hurts my heart to think of the way I've possibly made someone feel who needed some laughter or friendship in their life that day. I could have been that person. I could have been the one who left someone's "day MADE". THIS is why I want to change.
Being a little TOO kind means going out of your way. It's doing something you wouldn't normally do. Whether it be a wave to a car who let you in, a "hello, how has your day been?" to the lady checking you out at the grocery store, a smile to the person you pass on your run, or a full blown get-to-know-ya conversation with a total stranger, it ALL makes a difference! Being a little TOO kind is action. It is THE absolute ideal phrase to describe my movement. I promise to YOU, my readers, that I will be 100% authentic and raw in this journey with the hopes of allowing you to witness that if a salty B like me can make REAL change, anyone can. 👊🏾
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