smile – Beatitudes Community

The Cookie Thief

Sun, September 19, 2021 Published by Andrew Moore

A friend of mine was waiting at an airport one night with several long hours before her flight. She hunted for a book in the airport shops, bought a bag of cookies and eventually found a place to sit and wait for her flight.

She began reading and was soon engrossed in her book, but happened to see that the man sitting beside her, as bold as could be grabbing a cookie from the bag resting between their two seats. Attempting to avoid making a scene she decided to ignore him.

So, she munched on a couple of the cookies and each time she looked up from her book the gutsy cookie thief was again diminishing her stock! She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by, thinking to herself “If I wasn’t so nice, I would blacken his eye.”

With each cookie she took he took one too, until there was only one left. She wondered what he would do. With a smile on his face, and a nervous laugh, he took the last cookie and broke it in half.

He offered her half, as he ate the other, she snatched it from him and thought “oooh, brother! This guy has some nerve! He’s so rude- he didn’t even show any gratitude!!”

She could not remember being so annoyed, and sighed with relief when her flight was called. She thrust her book into her purse and headed to the gate, refusing to look back at the thieving cookie bandit.

She boarded the plane, and sank in her seat, and looked into her purse for her book which was almost completed. As she reached in her purse, she gasped with surprise- there in front of her eyes was an unopened bag of cookies.

She said to herself- “If mine are in here, then the others must have been his.” Too late to apologize, she realized that she was the rude one, the ungrateful one, the thief.

Perspective and hindsight are precious commodities. We can all become so wrapped up in our lives that we forget that there are two sides to every story, and as Aesop’s fable says, ‘every truth has two sides; it is as well to look at both before we commit ourselves to either’. Perhaps today we might all take a moment to consider the perspectives of others on our own actions. Perhaps we ought to try looking at ourselves and our actions from someone else’s perspective? Perhaps we owe someone an apology? Perhaps we will be brave enough to do something about it.

Random Acts of Kindness

Tue, February 7, 2017 Published by Andrew Moore

A woman in a car pulled up to the toll booth at the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. “I’m paying for myself and the six cars behind me.” she says with a smile.

One after another, the next six drivers arrive at the booth, money in hand. “Some lady up ahead already paid your fare,” says the collector. “Have a nice day.”

The woman, it turned out, had read a note taped to a friend’s refrigerator: “Practice Random Kindness.”

The message from the door of that refrigerator is spreading, on bumper stickers, walls and business cards. And as it spreads, so does a vision of guerrilla-goodness.

A passer-by may plunk a coin into a stranger’s meter just in time. A group of people with pails and mops may descend on a run-down house and clean it from top to bottom while the elderly owners look on, amazed. A teenager shoveling snow may be hit by the impulse and shovel his neighbor’s driveway too.

Senseless acts of beauty spread. A man plants daffodils along a roadway. A concerned citizen roams the streets collecting litter in a supermarket cart. A student scrubs graffiti from a park bench. It’s a positive anarchy, a gentle disorder, a sweet disturbance.

They say you can’t smile without cheering yourself up. Likewise, you can’t commit a random act of kindness or beauty without feeling as if your own troubles have been lightened – because the world has become a slightly better place.

And you can’t be a recipient without feeling a pleasant jolt. If you were one of those commuters whose toll was paid, who knows what you might have been inspired to do for someone else?

There are times in our lives when we look around us and are disheartened by what we see. Sometimes we might feel as though we are powerless to make an impact on the situation, but as Mother Theresa once said “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”

Like all revolutions, guerrilla-goodness begins slowly, with a single act. The question is, what are you going to do today?

Appreciated and Valued

Mon, August 22, 2016 Published by Valerie Cantrell

employee Two things we want to feel each day when we come to work, two things we like our boss to tell us, and two things that keeps us going.

In May, one of our WIG SMILE Program weekly commitments was to ask staff, “What makes you feel most valued and appreciated?” Below are just a few of the 140 responses.

“I like that they trust me to do my job and do not micro-manage me.”
“I like to make the residents happy.”
“The benefits that Beatitudes has to offer.”
“Promotions for valued employees.”
“That smile from a happy resident.”
“Getting to work with the residents or getting to help anyone at all.”
“When I am asked for my expertise, when I am able to help with an issue.”
“Taking responsibility and being in control of your life.”
“Helping and serving others.”
“Trabajar en equipo” (teamwork)
“Talking with residents.”
“Volunteering.”
“What I value most from the campus is everyone getting along, being so positive and residents

and staff knowing me by name.”

“Learning new skills and using these skills to better the campus.”
“Being part of something that matters.”
“When residents answer the door with a smile.”
“When managers say good job.”

Those responses reminded me of why we come to work each day and why we work for the Beatitudes. Everyone wants to feel they are appreciated and valued.

It’s not just management that make us feel good. What about us as a co-worker. We can add value to those around us, and make them feel appreciated and valued. Each one of us has the ability to add value to someone else and make them feel appreciated. It doesn’t take much, write a co-worker a note, make them feel important, make them laugh, lend a helping hand, remember their name, lead by example, listen more, give your full attention, just being there for someone, etc. These simple ideas are a start to letting our co-workers know we value and appreciate them. Think of ways you can add value to others, look for ways to do it. We can change how each staff member feels about themselves just by a simple, random act.

A campus board member would always say, “Make it a great day!” That means, I need to make it great, not wait for someone else. Start today and make each day a great day for you and for someone else.

Tag: smile