The Impact of One Person on a Neighborhood


What difference can one person make?

There are of course the types of examples that get turned into movies and for which books are written. Examples where one person stands up for what is right and wins. Examples where one person works so hard and persists until the point of accomplishment.

But what if you could make a difference just by being kind?

Sounds like a tall order until you read about how Mister Rogers' hometown is known for kindness. Chris Rodell's book on Mister Rogers' hometown documents how visitors and new residents often comment on how nice people are in the town and wonder if it is some sort of gag.

One new police officer to town told how he pulled a resident over to give the driver a speeding ticket. The driver said "thank you" and gave the police offer a cold bottle of water (it was a hot day). There are a number of other examples that make it apparent that Mister Rogers' behavior made a permanent impact on the town.

You may not have a show on PBS but you can make a difference in your neighborhood and maybe your whole community. It begins with taking a few steps forward and making kindness your practice.

We have no idea how even the most minuscule gesture might resonate with the recipient. Mental health studies on altruism indicate doing good deeds reduces stress, improves emotional well-being, and even improves our physical health. 

As Fred Rogers says, "The real issue in life is not how many blessings we have but what to do with our blessings. Some people have many blessings and hold them, a few give them away." 

I’m like most of you: high-profile I’m rarely in a position to do high-profile good deeds. But there is an alternative to doing one superheroic headline-grabbing good deedlow-profile, that is to do a bunch of low profile good deeds.

When you give kindness, you get kindness in the long-run and there is no better time to start than now.

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Does this article make you interested in taking the Engaged Neighbor pledge? Five categories and 20 principles to guide you toward becoming an engaged neighbor. Sign the pledge online at http://engagedneighbor.com.

Contact the blog author, David L. Burton at dburton541@yahoo.com.

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