Today is October 24th. This is my mother’s birthday. My mom passed away on April 10, 2002.

My mom never had the opportunity to go to college or to have an exciting and fulfilling career (that is aside from being a mom- which is notably more consuming than a full-time job and ultimately more satisfying than even the most successful career). My mom was a stay-at-home mom for the vast majority of her life. She was the room mother, carpooler, cookie baker, PTA member, etc. My mom’s life as I saw it from my perspective as the oldest of her three children was 90% about her kids. My mother never won any national awards, built any empires or did anything that would get her mentioned in a classroom history book. The sum total of her life is noted in those she touched in her time on earth.

I carry with me a number of lessons I learned from my mom both directly and as a result of her role modeling. All-in-all, the thing I learned from my mother that has been the easiest to do and has delivered the most powerful impact is focusing on the importance of small kindnesses. My mom did thousands of small things during her life that cost her very little effort, but ended up meaning cumulatively a whole lot to the recipients. They were kind words and gestures that amounted to but a moment in time but that changed the world order by one small drop. You often hear that every drop in the ocean matters – I know that to be true. So too is the message of kindness, every small act of kindness in this world matters.

As I said, my mother never went to college, never had an exciting career, never won any national awards, never built any empires, and will never be noted in a history book, but she did change the world one small kindness at a time and she taught me the power of one person to create the type of change that can ripple out into the world. One drop matters…every small kindness matters…our interaction with others’ matters.

The world is made better one person at a time – my mom understood that and lived her life accordingly. In my life I try and honor my mother by remembering every day that the greatest thing I can contribute to this world comes in some of the smallest things I do.

So today, make an effort to perform one small act of kindness. It can be holding a door open, giving a compliment, assisting someone in some manner or contributing time or money…just do something … recognize that no matter how small the seeming effort on your part, what you say and do in this world matters. Indeed, I might suggest that the true value of your contributions while on this earth is most appropriately measured by the small kindnesses that you evidence as a part of your every day humanity.

Happy birthday mom…because I love you I will not sing out loud (making the dogs howl really ruins the spirit of the effort) – consider that my first small kindness of today.

Day one hundred and eleven of the new forty – obla di obla da

CC