Posted 12:38 am Sunday, January 15, 2012
BKIND29
This all started a couple of weeks back when it hit me we would have an extra day this year on Feb. 29. The question of what we should do with the extra day was submitted and the response we received has triggered some thought here at the paper.
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Devoted book club member and reader Dolores suggested the following:
Dear Nelson,
What I plan on doing on Feb. 29
To Achiev29 is an exercise that I often assign to clients. I have tried this myself and gained so much peace and happiness.
Every hour on the hour do something for someone else. The trick is not letting them know you are doing it. It can be a compliment, a pat on the back, a belly rub for your furry friend, a call to a shut-in, a letter to someone who you haven't seen for a while, flowers to someone you love. You get the idea.
It isn't about money, it is about caring. If you start at 8 a.m. and love until 8 p.m., you will be on a natural high that will make you want to do it again. Don't forget about paying for the person behind you in Starbucks, or the policeman that just came into the restaurant or the service man/woman on the street.
Now as a professional counselor and noted square dancer we were not surprised to see this response from Dolores. A crack team of reporters and editors who are into this sort of thing were assembled to discuss the possibilities of her idea.
What we came up with has great potential. What if we started a movement right here in East Texas called BKIND29 (Be kind on Feb. 29, 2012)? It's the sort of thing, with the right participation, that could go, well, global. As has been discussed here from time to time, there are parts of the country and the world that do not recognize the onerous time change twice per year, but doesn't the whole world have to recognize Feb. 29 as an official extra day every fourth year to keep it spinning on its axis?
So our idea is, if something this good could happen right here in river city, it may as well go viral and have impact around the world. It would start with people in leadership getting excited about it and calling on their state and national organizations to participate. Then the rest of us get in the game.
Anyone could call on five friends to join in and they could ask five of their friends and so on. With 44 days to prepare we've got plenty of time so there's really no excuse, such as "the dog ate my idea" or "I'll get to that next year."
We have already established a Facebook page and a Twitter account for people to share their best ideas about how to BKIND29.
Now I know some are already probably saying this is something that should happen every day of the year. But for the sake of argument, with this much notice, think of the possibilities to express your kindness to others without their knowledge. There will surely be sourpusses out there who want to dismiss this idea with all their reasons it should not or will not happen. They are welcome to keep their vitriol to themselves and the likelihood is they will probably be the first targets of this initiative if it works the way it should.
So what do you think? Can we unite the do-gooders of the earth and start a global movement of kindness thanks to Dolores' lovely idea? If you will email your suggestions to BKIND29@tylerpaper.com we will start assembling ways to use the extra day we have been given for a purpose.
Reports will be updated in the paper, on the Web and everywhere else we can imagine. We are thinking of buttons, signs and all manner of commotion to stir up our legions.
And for all the lemon-suckers out there, can't you just see them now, saying, "go ahead, make my day."
Perhaps we will.
