The Greater Courtesies.

Nineteenth-century American writer Christian Bovee one said,"The small courtesies sweeten life; the greater, ennoble it." Sometimes, with the pressures and stresses of life, we might forget that in many cases, the small things are the big things. The lessons of good manners we learned as children-to say "please" and "thank you" and "excuse me" - may seem outdated in today's demanding adult world. But politeness is never out of style, kindness is never old-fashioned, and we never outgrow courtesy. And it goes much deeper that polite word. As one commentator noted: "Making people feel important is part of courtesy, so it's important to remember that whether or not people remember what we say or do, they do remember how we made them feel....Always be kinder than necessary because you can never be too kind. Helping people feel respected and loved takes more effort and, at times, more self-discipline that just remembering to say please and thank you. But it's the mark of a great soul. This type of courtesy focuses more on how we make people feel than just what we say to them. It springs more from sincere love for others than from a mere sense of social obligation. It measures not the size of the courteous act but the size of the heart behind it. A smile, a returned phone call, a thank-you note, a word of congratulation on a special occasion, verbal and nonverbal responses to those who need our attention-even these seemingly small things, if inspired by genuine love, can turn out to be the greater courtesies, the big things, that both sweeten and ennoble the giver and the receiver. About two weeks ago I got into an elevator with a young women with a baby in the stroller, and you know how sometimes everyone just looks at each other and does not know what to say, well this young lady looked at me and said "How's your day", I just about fell over, wow I thought, she really cares about how I am doing? it made me feel good inside, it also started up a conversation between us and I sort of felt we knew something about each other in that short period of time. I got to thinking about it and if each one of us did that, what a better place this world would be. I have gone through quite an enlightening two weeks, realizing that we as individuals can make such a difference in someone's life. So many people are going through some very bad times and they need to know they are loved, Black, white, gay, straight, pink, yellow what ever we are, we all need to be needed. Thank you Carol Lynn Pearson, for enlightening me. You are one awesome lady, thank you for coming into my life.