This is going to be a long one, because I feel like sharing, so why not? Read if you like, maybe you'll learn something about me, or yourself, or maybe not. Who knows, but here goes nothing...
I have spent the past few years of my life building a mindset of positivity. I am a firm believer that people can achieve any success with enough determination, passion, and positivity.
It all started freshmen year. I was in a class entitled "Academic Success in the Undergraduate Experience" - essentially a study skills class to prepare freshmen for the rigorous course load UCLA has to offer. Although the study skills were helpful, one lecture truly changed my life. The professor (now a good friend and mentor), Bruce Barbee, told a story:
"One day a man was walking on a beach after a huge storm. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of sea stars that had washed upon shore because of the storm. He noticed in the distance a person walking back and forth from the ocean to the shore. As he got closer, he noticed it was a little boy throwing the sea stars back into the ocean - one at a time. "What are you doing?" The man asked. "You never are going to be able to make a difference, there are too many!" The little boy picked up another sea star and threw it back into the ocean and replied, "It made all the difference for that one."
Something about this story truly resonated with me. I became obsessed with the concept of "making a difference." I founded "Free Compliments at UCLA" where a couple friends and I would give out high-fives and compliments to complete strangers. I went home and created my own non-profit, raising more than $7,500 in a summer for the American Cancer Society.
Most importantly, I became more aware of my surroundings.
You've probably heard the saying, "The world doesn't revolve around you!" It is true, the world - the planet Earth - does not center its orbit around any given person (I think we all knew that though). However, in reality, all of our individual lives, our own "WORLDS", so to say, do indeed revolve around us. I am the center figure of my life and you are the center figure of yours.
Those commuters sitting in traffic with you on the 405, the business man who is impatient with the checker at Ralph's, and the little girl who has a sweet balloon animal at the bus stop all have something in common: they are just background characters in your life. They aren't your family, your friends, your teachers, or anyone of any true importance to your life. However, you are just a background character to them as well. What people often fail to realize is that we play the same role as all the strangers in our lives - the "Background Character".
What I've been working on lately, is becoming the best Background Character I can be for every person I interact with every day. I don't want someone to get home after a long day of work, drop her bags and say, "Today there was this one ASSHOLE at work...." and be said "asshole".
To ensure this doesn't happen, I simply make an effort to constantly be nice.
I always try and put myself in someone else's shoes; see his or her perspective. You would be surprised to see how many smiles you can get out of a grocery bagger, a line chef at panda, or the person who inserts your validated parking ticket at a parking garage just by recognizing them as a person, because so many people treat them like nothing. I ask people how they are doing not because it has become a social formality but rather because I care about the people with whom I interact. I believe people often forget about the human connection we all share and often fall short of kindness when nothing can be gained.
However, kindness is not something that comes with an asterisk. It should have no strings attached, and be unsolicited. Kindness is a lifestyle.
And I'm doing my best to make it mine.
Ok, that's all, I'm done. Happy Friday night!
Good night Facebook