This week's Pep Talk: "More Kindness"

I talk a lot about being joyful for the blessings of our lives. Most of us have them, in some way, shape, form or another. But let’s be honest, we often think more about our challenges in life than our blessings, right?

Well, one of my great blessings is the neighborhood where I dwell. Nestled on Denver’s near east side, close to the city’s beautiful botanic gardens, it’s like a little village with a wonderful retail area just a three-block walk from my front door. The area has small-business restaurants and shops for everything I need, including a grocery store and post office. They’re one and the same.

Sean and Stephanie, a loving couple and proprietors, have become good buddies. They provide real value to the neighborhood with their clean, reasonably priced and well-stocked store. They also have a U.S. Postal Service office within the store. I’m in there often, because thanks to folks like you, I do some sell books. It’s from 12th Avenue Market that I ship them to you.

I’m in there conducting business and ask Sean how things were going. “Mark, you know the grocery store side of this endeavor is going great,” said the scratch golfer. “But the post office stuff? We gotta talk.”

Whenever I have the privilege of leading a group – via a Pep Talk - and encouraging them to play like champions in the game of life, we always talk about the importance of conducting our lives in ways that honor, nurture and add value to the communities we serve. Those communities are: home, work and community.

It sounds like there’s been a few too many people utilizing the store’s post office, who don’t necessarily believe it’s real important to honor, nurture and value. “People can get really rude and impatient with the time element of a post office,” Sean tells me. “They need to chill out a bit.”

When he told me this, my mind immediately visualized adults acting like, well, maybe like smart-aleck teenage kids. “No,” Sean sighed. “Worse.”

And then my brain drifted to this: It’s a stressful time in this nation’s history. It seems there’s little good news out there concerning the economy and many other things. We’re tense. We’re wondering what the heck is gonna happen next?

This is the exact time where we have to rally around one another. This is when we have to come together, to unite. A good strategy to living a life that honors, nurtures and adds value to the communities you serve is to never grow weary of doing good things for others. This week, let’s start with a little more kindness toward one another, especially at the post office, okay?