I wrote this awhile back, but it still holds true today.

I got up this morning with good intentions to get lots of work done, but then I started watching the coverage of the Pope in Philadelphia. I had seen bits and pieces of the visit to Washington D.C. and New York, but what caught my eye was the sheer size of the crowd at the Open Air Mass. There was an estimate of more than 500,000 people attending this, the largest service ever held in the US.

Regardless of your religious belief, the focus on the importance of the family as the “Factory of Hope” was a great reminder just how important the family unit is to society. The health of the family unit has a direct impact on the health of society, including business and the financial industry. As families break down, the overall wealth of the country declines, assets are divided, credit histories suffer and disposable income decreases.

As the reporters discussed the event, my thoughts shifted to the relationships we deal with every day in our lives. Two words from the Pope’s message stayed with me most of the day and I thought it was important that I write something about this. The discussion about “Small Gestures” could relate to just about every relationship we have, both in business and in our personal lives.

If Realtors, Mortgage People, Title Companies and other vendors we deal with every day, would just take a second or two to add a “Small Gesture” of kindness or understanding to each interaction, what a difference it could make in someone’s day. A kind word, an extra phone call with an update, a small concession to a contract negotiation could all have a positive impact on everyone involved. The same is true in our personal and family relationships where “Small Gestures” could play an important role in improving the quality of our lives.

We can’t control what happens in the world, but we can control what happens in our immediate sphere of influence. If each of us would make just one, positive “Small Gesture” each day, it might just have a positive impact on everyone we come in contact with. Just think about the people we care about breaking out into “Random Acts of Kindness” and some even “Paying it Forward”. If we’re not careful, this could catch on and there might be some hope for this world of ours after all.