Is it OK to Schedule Niceness?

Ever since the pandemic, I’ve been perplexed by the simplest of niceties going by the wayside. Either people have forgotten how to be grateful or they just don’t care. I’m not sure, but I’m trying to do my part by making a difference.

It’s not an emphasis on scheduling in your calendar the task of being nice, but more about taking the time to be thoughtful, considerate and complimenting your family, colleagues or those you come across daily.

I’m adding a disclaimer here about not judging people, because you don’t know what they are going through that day and could be ‘masking’ their emotions.

Here are some of the ways I’ve been intentionally doing extra to make kindness an integral part of my world. Yes—for some I know it has impacted them, because they came right out and told me so and thanked me.

• Purposefully saying “thank you” to both the grocery clerk and bagger

• Smiling and saying “hello” to strangers as I’m shopping

• Merging left on the interstate when it’s snowing to make it easier for oncoming traffic

• Asking a colleague “how was your weekend?”

• Allowing someone to go in line ahead of you when you arrive simultaneously

There are a multitude of other ways. Pick a few or create new ones that you feel comfortable incorporating. Not only will it be beneficial to the other person, but it will open your world up to a whole different type of kindness.

Scott’s original photograph, “Lines of Hope”, is November’s featured art!

Scott is a Marketing Manager for Razor Tracking, the Founder of Seiler & Company Marketing Consultant and a fine art photographer. He began his career as a broadcast journalist at WDAY-TV in Fargo and the University of North Dakota. He moved into the field of marketing, working for many years at ABC Seamless, RDO Equipment Co. and Sanford Health. He transferred his passion for videography to still photography and as an artist, he has exhibited widely throughout the Midwest. Scott has been a board member for the FM Visual Artists and Gallery 4, where he is a premier artist member and president.