Hello again! It's Dr. Jean Latting.

Twice this week I was reminded to think about how easy it is to lose sight of the countless acts of kindness and integrity that surround us every day.

Incident #1

My granddaughter visited, and we did our customary shopping outing. That evening I glanced in the mirror and realized that my favorite necklace was gone!  My husband had given me the necklace several years ago and it is one of my cherished possessions.

By this time, it was after closing hours, so I called and left a message at the most likely store. 

That night, I fought not to settle into gloom and doom. Had the necklace fallen off and been stolen? Was I calling the right store where it might have been lost? How could it have fallen off my neck in the first place? And especially: was it really gone forever? 

I could feel the sinking heaviness in my chest, then deliberately forced myself to move into the question and wait until morning to see if it might be found.

The next morning, I called the store again and spoke with a clerk. She promised she would look around and call me if they found it. Two minutes later she called me: “We found your necklace!” It apparently had fallen off somehow and was just laying there on the floor. I thanked her profusely, full of gratitude and amazement that they had found the necklace and were returning it to me.

Someone with lower ethical standards might have kept it, but these women didn’t. To the contrary, I could hear how happy the salesclerk was for me to have my necklace back.

I also silently patted myself on the back that I had held off sinking into despair and avoided an all night, unnecessary slog through self-inflicted misery. 

Incident #2

Three days after the necklace incident, my husband and I flew out of town for a family event.  We arrived very late and exhausted, got our bags from the airport carousel, and drove a rental car to the hotel. 

As I was unpacking, I realized with shock that my laptop bag was missing.

I called baggage claim, but they had no record of it. The agent told me I should go straight to the airport when they opened in the morning. 

“Do you think someone might have taken it unintentionally,” she asked. “Yes, and maybe intentionally,” I gloomily responded. “Just go there in the morning,” she insisted.

Again, my mind flooded with dread thoughts. The airport carousel was unattended and it was easy enough for someone to just pick it up and walk off with it. What information on my laptop would be hard to replace? Why hadn’t I backed up everything before I left for the trip? How could I have forgotten that I checked it? Why didn’t I carry it on with me? What if the laptop falls into the wrong hands?

Again, I had a choice: engage in self-inflicted misery and anguish overnight or move into the question and wait until morning to see if the laptop was safe. 

The next morning, I called baggage and a sympathetic voice said she was in the room with the unclaimed bags and didn’t see it. “Oh, no!” I exclaimed. I could hear empathy in her voice. “Wait a minute, let me search each bag one by one. Give me your name again.” And then three minutes later, she said, ‘I have it and I’m looking at your computer right now.”

Again, I was flooded with gratitude. How many people had looked at my unattended laptop bag circling around over and over on the carousel, and not stolen it? Even the baggage attendant I spoke to could easily have claimed she never saw it and taken it home.

The Bond of Trust

In three days, I had lost two things precious to me, and both had been returned by honest, caring people. In a world often depicted as fraught with skepticism and distrust, it is easy to lose sight of the countless acts of kindness and integrity that surround us every day.

Neither incident would make the headlines in a news cycle focused on crime, conspiracies, and war. Yet both are reminders that the world is filled with people looking out for one another, and their acts of goodness far outweigh the instances of mistrust that tend to dominate the news.

Trust is the bedrock upon which any thriving community is built. It is the glue that binds relationships and fosters cooperation, allowing us to live in harmony with one another. We extend trust to strangers every time we ride in a car, tacitly assuming some random person won’t ram into us. We can and do rely on others to act with integrity and consideration, even in the absence of constant surveillance or external pressure.

Together, we can cultivate a world built on trust, empathy, and the understanding that most people are inherently good and compassionate. We each have a responsibility to do our part in building a brighter and more harmonious future for all and maintaining gratitude for all others who feel the same.

Our CEO and President Dr. Jean Latting is published author of Reframing Change: How to Deal with Workplace Dynamics, Influence Others, and Bring People together to Initiate Positive Change. This book was written as a guide to help leaders make intentional choices and draw on their assets, thoughts, emotions, and behaviors to influence others, bridge differences, and initiate positive change.

In 2024, Dr. Latting’s second book will be published by SheWritesPress. Titled Conscious Change: How to Navigate Differences and Foster Inclusion in Everyday Relationships, the book reveals 19 stories of leaders implementing the principles of conscious change. Stay tuned for the book launch in January.

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