When It Rains, It Pours

This week was hands down the worst weather I have seen in Crookston since I moved here. Every day for a week straight, I woke up to the shrill holler of my alarm clock, looking outside only to see the grumpy grey skies swallowing up any sunlight. The walk outside was even worse. Before doing so, I had to prepare myself mentally and physically to combat the gloom. After sliding my grey softshell over my shoulders, placing a headphone each ear, and throwing my hood over my head, I used all my body weight to push open the residence door and step out into the drizzling rain.

One day in particular last week, it was especially dreary. You could tell everyone else felt it too by the lack of smiles and motivation. After sitting through a lecture, I headed down the hall making my way outside back to my dorm. I was so focused on myself I almost didn’t notice the girl kneeling on the ground right in front of the door until I almost hit her as I was going out. As I kept walking, I looked back to see what she was doing. When I looked closer, I could see a wing poking out of her grasp and a beak at the top of her knuckle. She carefully carried the creature to a small grassy area outside the doorway surrounded by smaller trees, placed it near some brush and rose to her full height. I was pretty blown away at this point. Still standing in the misting rain, I walked back to my dorm and thought more about what I just saw. This girl who probably was just as busy as I, if not busier, took time out of her day to make someone’s life just a little bit better.

I thought back to the last time I was inspired by an act of kindness. A friend I met at SLCCL this year takes time out of her day to post encouraging words for those around her to see. Today it was, “You are loved. You are precious. You are important. You are special. You are smart. You are gifted.” I guarantee quite a few people needed to hear these words today. I know I did.

Almost all of us have heard the quote, “ When it rains, it pours.” Now that I think about it, why can’t this be the case as far as kindness is concerned? One small act of kindness, whether it be holding a door for a stranger, saying thank you at the drive through window, or even picking up a can that just barely missed the garbage can spiral into an uncontrollable series of kind acts until kindness is literally pouring all around us. When we complete small acts of kindness, we inspire others to be kind as well. Sometimes, it seems like our day is just full of rain. Maybe we fought with our best friend, didn’t do as well as we thought we would on a test, or maybe spilled coffee on our homework, but despite these things, we can still throw a little kindness into the world, because when we do so, kindness starts to pour around us.

As FFA members, we have so many opportunities to touch other people’s lives with kindness. We simply inspire those in our chapter, school, and community by our small acts of kindness like coaching a young CDE team, helping fill out a state degree or proficiency, or even taking time out of hanging with our friends to talk to a new member during a meeting. All these small acts turn into inspiration for other individuals to grow as leaders. This is the point when we definitely learn how to dance in the rain instead of moping in it.
How will you show kindness to others?

How will you inspire others to be kind?

Stationed by the flag,

Eleora