I just want to remind you of who You are.

Not the busy, stressed, distracted You today.

The eight year old version of Yourself.

Remember when You would go to school and be excited to see Your friends? When You'd stop what You were doing if You saw some kid crying? When You'd give half your bologna sandwich to the kid whose milk made his too soggy to eat?

The You who drew pictures for your parents and teachers just because You were inspired to express Yourself and then share it with someone else. 

The You who got so excited for Your best friend's birthday that passersby might've thought it was actually YOUR birthday instead.

The You who unashamedly said things like "Hey, I like your dog" and "Nice shot!" to complete strangers at the park.

That's the You I want you to remind you of.
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I like to watch how kids just love each other. Little boys walking home from school, arms around each other's backpack heavy shoulders, excitedly bantering about the new superhero movie the want to see together. Little girls playing with each others hair while they sit in the shade and talk. Groups of kids laughing and screaming while running around in a game of freeze tag, welcoming any new kid just walking up to join in.

Remember that You?
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The You who didn't really stop to wonder if someone would think You were weird or crazy if you said "Hi" or complimented their cool shoes?

Being kind is in your DNA. Life just gets in the way. We get busy and tired. People hurt us and show us the ugly, untrustworthy side of themselves. We stop watching Looney Tunes and start watching CNN. We stop flipping through a Choose Your Own Adventure book and pick up  grocery store gossip magazines instead.

We start to believe that maybe the Housewives and Kardashians and Dance Moms actually do represent the rest of humanity and they're just honest enough to say what the rest of the world is secretly thinking. 

But that is all a lie. YOU are still YOU. The kid who knew right from wrong, and even though You didn't always choose right, You felt bad about it and knew how to make it right again. You might've broken a few rules at home but you'd never break the friend code at school. You stood up for the underdog. You looked out for your little sister. You were kind.

You're still kind. That's what I want to remind You today and what I need You to remind me of sometimes, too. We're not perfect, we make mistakes, but deep down, that eight year old is still there.

It's who You are. 

On my birthday, I usually ask my friends to join me in intentionally showing kindness to someone and then tell me about it, The funny thing is, I often notice a commonality in their sweet reports of generosity.  Almost exclusively, people will caveat kindness with phrases like "I know this isn't a big deal but..." or "I'm not really sure if this counts or not but..." before retelling what they did for someone else.
As someone who is fascinated by acts of kindness, I understand why we can sometimes be so quick to discredit how impactful a simple act of love can be.  If it's easy for us to do, we assume it's not necessarily as important or impactful to the recipient as, say, a $100 donation. But the truth is, we don't really have any idea how big of a deal the smallest gesture means to the person on the other side of the equation.

 I've heard from hundreds of people who are the recipients of these seemingly innocuous acts and the impact that single moment makes in a person's life is often incalcuable. 
Here are some actual accounts from a few people who have contacted The Birthday Project about being the recipient of a stranger's kindness:

• The lady you let use your discount card at the grocery?  Her husband just lost his job and money is tighter than it's ever been for their family.
• The elderly woman you gave your 25% off coupon to while she scrounged for her purse at the department store was buying an outfit to wear to her precious husband's funeral.
• The military service man whose lunch you paid for today recently returned from a year overseas and is struggling to get through most days as he battles PTSD.
• The young mother you offered your place to in line at the grocery store because her baby was crying has been feeling like she's been hanging on by a thread lately.
• The little boy you gave a balloon to at the park? His grandma just passed away and her favorite color was blue....just like the balloon he's now holding and will later be able to let go of and watch float up to the clouds with a smile.

You guys, these are REAL stories, and  just a handful of the countless reports I've collected of a simple act of kindness at just the right moment in time. The only thing that's "not a big deal" about any of them is how simple the act itself was to do on the part of the giver. 
The recipient, however, was impacted in very big ways, often for a lifetime. 

That's a REALLY big deal.