Recently, I embarked on an ‘attitude adjustment’. I was exhausted with negative comments and posts on my social media page. So much so, that it was beginning to create a change in me that I could no longer tolerate, especially over election season. I felt annoyed and angry and hurt toward humanity. However, unlike many who just take Facebook breaks, I knew that my attitudes were starting to bleed into reality; and I knew they required more than just a break.

So instead, after taking suggestions from friends, I embarked on a journey to speak love. I challenged myself to post one genuinely kind thing for every friend on my Facebook account. I only had two rules.

• It must be personal.
• It must be genuine.

I had 529 ‘friends’ on my list. I am not a prolific collector of friends. However, spending even 60 seconds on each post would take me over 8 ½ hours. I can’t remember the last time that I had a whole day for just one project. So, I spread it out over time. It was the only way to both accomplish the goals and follow my rules. All in all, it took me FIFTEEN days.

There were two unintended side effects. I guess if I had really been thinking, I would have realized it right away. I share a lot of friends with the same people. So… it had the impact of filling up a newsfeed for a lot of people. Hopefully, if it annoyed you and cluttered up your feed, you figured out how to use the ‘snooze’ button. However, for those of you that piled onto my words… thank you SO much. That meant so much to them and to me. Also, because not everyone follows me closely and I do have lots of friends that I don’t share with others, it resulted in posting an odd message on someone’s page who had NO idea what I was doing and may not have talked to me in years. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I could almost HEAR their friends say, “What on earth… that’s weird.”

However, the most important thing that happened was a change in me. My attitude toward others was permanently altered. My ability to not only speak genuine love over others, but to FEEL genuine love toward others was significantly changed. During the process, I had MANY people reach out to ask me questions about what I was doing and how I did it. It is a message of love and kindness that I think deserves to be shared with everyone during this holiday season. What I sincerely hope is that when you read it, you will be able to reach out this holiday season and find ways to show GENUINE love toward others. I hope you enjoy it and I hope, in the end, you decide to choose kindness during this holiday season.

TRUTH #1: You add value to the world… even with only your presence

I am only one person. I do NOT have deeply personal and meaningful relationships with over 500 people. I’m not sure that is even physically possible. Maybe for some, but I don’t think I would be considered a ‘personal relationship powerhouse’. So, doing a work to write something personal and genuine to each person ended up teaching me something valuable.

Our PRESENCE in the lives of others, no matter how small, plays a part in creating who they become.

Maybe not EVERY minute of EVERY DAY, but often there are ENOUGH minutes and interactions to add up in meaningful ways. Meaningful things like a kind word, a positive attitude, a gentle tone in a crowded room, or an always smiling face. I didn’t realize how important each person was in my daily life until I stopped to think about it.

There were many people I only knew as an acquaintance. However, my rules forced me to consider their significance to me. I was struck by how the things others say and the things they do impact me. Even if only lightly or briefly. I was surprised by their impact on my daily life. Often they impact it in ways my subconscious knew, but I had not taken the time to admit.

If you are feeling small and insignificant this holiday season, let me remind you that your presence means more than you might realize. That you set a tone for the world around you. You play a note in a larger chord. You are part of the melody in another’s chorus.