Nearly 10 years ago, before I had even considered the idea of becoming a public speaker, I had the opportunity to do some work down in Cape Town S. Africa.  From all those years ago I still stay in touch with a remarkable young lady named Anthea Flink who recently sent me this wonderful piece that I now share with you.  It’s called  “Scatterd Paper”

Thank you Anthea!

Once upon a time an old man spread rumors that his neighbor was a thief. As a result, the young man was arrested. Days later the young man was proven innocent. After been released he sued the old man for wrongly accusing him.

In court the old man told the Judge: “They were just comments, didn’t harm anyone.”

The judge, before passing sentence on the case, told the old man:  “Write all the things you said about him in a piece of paper. Cut them up and on the way home, throw the pieces of paper out. Tomorrow, come back to hear the sentence.”

Next day, the judge told the old man: “Before receiving the sentence, you will have to go out and gather all the pieces of paper that you threw out yesterday.”

The old man said: “I can’t do that! The wind spread them and I won’t know where to find them.”

The judge then replied: “The same way, simple comments may destroy the honor of a man to such an extent that one is not able to fix it. If you can’t speak well of someone, rather don’t say anything.

“Let’s all be masters of our mouths, so that we won’t be slaves of our words. ”

If only we could eat our words but once they leave our mouths they so often seem to breath, breed and take on a life of their own.  Truly words are living things… they create the realities of our lives and can forever impact the lives of others.

Word Out  : )  Kirk

Was reading a blog and came across this great post written by Barbara Burke she titled the post “Hey Nice Pants”

Have you been tempted to pay someone a compliment but decided not to, for fear of looking foolish? That hasn’t stopped two Purdue University students known as the “compliment guys.”

Since the beginning of the school year, Cameron Brown and Brent Westcott spend a couple of hours every Wednesday dishing out compliments to passersby. They don’t give their kudos too much thought. They just shout out whatever comes to mind.  A woman walking by got a compliment on her smile. They had conversation with a guy about his “nice pants” and when a classmate walked by they praised him for the grade he got on a test.

While standing with a sign that says “free compliments” may not be your style,  go ahead and pay someone a nice compliment this week. It will do you good and it might be the highlight of someone’s day.

Make it a great week join me in joining the “Compliment Guys in their important work!

Kirk