I’ve said and heard many people say before, “I meant to call you after your surgery and just got busy”. Or “I meant to send you a card and just forgot.” And then someone followed that up with “well it’s the thought that counts”.
I don’t really think so……….
Two years ago my friends threw me a surprise birthday party. It wasn’t a milestone birthday for me so I wasn’t expecting it at all. It made me feel so special that so many of my friends took time out of their day to come to a surprise luncheon for me!
As we were talking about how the event came about, one of my friends said, “we almost didn’t pull this off because you are always the party planner. We didn’t know how to get you here or who all to invite or what to eat and how to pull it all off. Then someone said, ‘what would Deanna do’ and they said she would just do it. So we just carried through and it was a success.”
After they told me that, I got to thinking about what if they would have just said, “we were going to throw you a birthday party but we didn’t know how to get you there; we weren’t sure who to invite; we didn’t know what to have to eat; so we just scrapped it. But it’s the thought that counts”.
That would have been so sad for me. But it made me think about how many times I have said something to someone and then said, “it’s the thought that counts”. But really it’s not the thought that counts. It’s the action that counts.
If everyone acted on the thoughts of kindness that came into our minds, think how awesome this world could be. If YOU and I act on the thoughts of kindness that come to our minds over the next week, think how much greater our own little world would be. Doing kindness for others brings a good feeling to the recipient but also to the one who is giving. It doesn’t take much time out of our day. Can we afford 10 minutes or 30 minutes to make someone feel special?
Think about what makes you happy. Do you like it when you get flowers? If so, send flowers to someone. Do you like it when you get a card versus an email or text message? Then send someone a card. Do you like it when someone stops by for a visit? Then go visit someone. Whenever someone or some act of kindness comes to your mind this week, act on it.
It’s really not the thought that counts………..it’s acting out the thought that really counts!
Make a difference to someone ………..today!
