Accept and Support People

12. Return phone calls. Do this as promptly as possible, and certainly the same day. In today's hectic environment, these frequently get overlooked. But making an effort to respond promptly assures the person that you value them.
    
    Also, acknowledge e-mail messages and forwards. Your response doesn’t have to be long; it can be as simple as “Thank you.” Sure, your mailbox gets full. But letting a person know that you appreciate their thinking of you means a lot. Take a moment to send a reply, knowing that you are sharing kindness and love by simply acknowledging that you heard from them.
    
    
13. Touch. Hug. Touching someone’s hand, or laying a hand on their shoulder, or shirt sleeve, is a friendly gesture. It is positive. Personal touch is even more highly appreciated in our world of technology. A book, Megatrends, written in 1982, spoke, even that long ago, about how 'high tech, high touch' was a reality — that the more we moved toward 'high tech', the more valuable 'touch' was to people.
    
    Caution! Not all touch is appreciated. Some is inappropriate. Touch with care. Not everyone likes to be hugged. Offer hugs with close attention to the other’s body language, which says “yes” or “no”. Hugging is an increasingly welcomed gesture, but it is not yet universal.

Excerpt from 'Thirteen Secret Behaviors' section of Jim Kok's book, Transform Belief Into Behavior. Available here from Amazon.

These ‘Secret Behaviors’ are not truly secret—but they are far too often overlooked. The humble effectiveness of being friendly cannot be over-emphasized. People all around us are hungry for a touch of care, concern, love, even simple acknowledgement.

__________________________

Write to us at ShowUp@careandkindness.org, or Like us on Facebook and add a comment there.