Class is timeless

I was in one of those reflective moods the other day and I was thinking about class. I was trying to wrap my brain around what it really is and what it means. I think it can mean different things in different situations and to different people. We can't all act the same way in any given situation because we're all different personalities and that would be boring, we weren't built that way, however, there are some constants.

We can always think before we speak...or try-let's work toward that...that's a goal of mine!

We can always err on the side of being kind: we can be nice instead of rude, include instead of exclude, give others the benefit of the doubt (not always easy to do), smile instead of scowl, wave instead of ignore, forgive instead of hold a grudge, and build bridges instead of create gaps.

We can always politely say "no thank you, but thank you for asking...that was so nice" instead of "No!"

We can always say "yes please!"

It doesn't cost you anything to slow down sometimes and take time for others

A sincere thanks via text, email, homing pigeon, or in person looking them right in the eye is so powerful. It may be forgotten by you in a moment's time, but may be remembered by the person being thanked for a lifetime...don't forget to show gratitude

My point is that kindness and class I believe go hand-in-hand, they're close cousins...perhaps even the same thing. I have rarely seen a rude person or a closed off mean person and thought, now there's a person with a lot of class.

I am writing this because I feel that I have a lot to learn in this regard and I think we can all learn from this. Sometimes we are too busy, too proud, too stressed, too stupid, too...whatever to just stop and think about how what we may do, or what we may have done could affect the other person and we need to think about that more often. If we would do that, I can tell you that the world would not only be a more well- mannered place, but a classier place. Things that are vengeful and hurtful would not be said and done so easily, apologies would come more quickly, forgiveness more easily, smiles more readily, and thank-you's more heart felt.

Try it for a week, give it a chance. See what happens.