"I've always dreamed of being an old philosopher. So far I've achieved one out of two!"

Gerry Reid's Professional Development Tip

Give Away a "Kindness."

I once was at a convention when I ran into an old friend. I noticed that she had on a "necklace" made from a narrow strip of fabric. On the ends of the fabric were Velcro strips and a metal loop. Clipped to the loop was her conference name tag. I commented to her that this clever necklace would be a great help for speakers since it could be quickly removed or put on before and after a presentation (so our name tags would not interfere with the clip-on microphones we use.) I asked her where she got it. Without hesitating, she took it off, gave it to me and said, "Here, you can have it, I have another one at home." (Home, by the way, was 2000 miles away.) This simple but generous gesture has stuck in my memory for a long time. She gave away something that probably had little physical value, but had tremendous "kindness" value. Maybe, if each day, we give something away, regardless of value, we will teach other people what "kindness" is.