Plant Quiet Hero Seeds

What seeds do you plant?

Whether we realize it or not, we are all planting seeds each and every day with our actions. Are you growing weeds-selfish, short-tempered, quick to put others down? Or, are you growing wheat-exhibiting kindness, patience, forgiveness? Are you in the habit of using your daily interactions to make others smile? Are you nurturing the seeds you plant by sharing, using manners, giving compliments and doing what you can to both see the best in others and encourage the best in others? Maybe you are plowing your way through each day unaware of the seeds you’re leaving behind.

We play many roles throughout each day, whether it’s with family, friends, neighbors, classmates, co-workers or strangers. Our interactions make a difference, good or bad.

My dad had a gardening hobby. He especially enjoyed his annual crop of neck pumpkins, and sharing them with others. I encourage gardening ministries. It’s fun to see seeds turn into delicious goodness, and sharing the bounty is an easy source of joy. But, besides his outdoor gardening fun, my dad was a spiritual gardener, quietly making a difference in the garden of life by nurturing others with his small selfless acts.

When I first wrote ENOUGH! Quiet Heroes Unite to Change the World, One Kind Act at a Time, the original title was going to be My Dad. Quiet Hero. Heavenly Gardener. My dad embraced his role as a human being. Each day he consistently and intentionally set out to make a difference in his corner of the world, even if it was just a day of making people smile. The words “heavenly gardener” got added to the title in the hope it would be prophetic. It would be terrific if my dad’s quiet legacy encouraged others even now, his story of simple, habitual kindness nurturing new quiet heroes today and in the future.

Won’t you be a quiet hero? Plant seeds of kindness in ways that suit you best. Consistently. Intentionally. Make kindness a habit.