Instead of just giving thanks this holiday season with words that are too soon forgotten, why not put your gratitude into action with deeds that spread a little kindness, lighten someone's burden, and brighten some dark corner?
I'm not just talking about volunteering at a soup kitchen or making a donation to a charity that does good work, although those are fine things, too.
What I'm suggesting is something that everyone can do no matter how tight our budgets or how crowded our schedules.
Pay your blessings forward.
Engage in acts of kindness. Smile more. Fight less.
Focus on the things that unite instead of that which divides. Be a hero, whether or not anyone ever notices.
Do your part to push back against the meanness of our culture with conscious compassion and humanity. Moods are contagious, the good and the bad. They can be passed from person to person. So can the actions associated with those moods, the good and the bad.
Even holding the door for someone or giving up your seat on a crowded train are acts of benevolence that, magnified by other such acts, can spark a movement.
Imagine a world in which we all lived in peace.
John Lennon tried to imagine such a world in which there was nothing to kill or die for, no greed or hunger. He was a beautiful dreamer whose life ended with an assassin's bullet on December 8, 1980.
Still, that doesn't mean the dream has to die, too.
There's something to be said for working to make that dream a reality. As Lennon reminded his listeners, "War is over, if you want it."
The choice is ours, if we want it.
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