Kindness Practice

In third grade I had a strict teacher. One day I was finding it difficult to sit still in my chair and I spoke out of turn and something else happened that I don't remember. What I do remember is that at the end of the day I was assigned 425 sentences. As in, "I will not speak without raising my hand." "I will sit in my chair." etc. This is third grade & I am 8 years old! 425 sentances?! It took up pages of my composition book. And while my hand cramped that night something else happened, I learned to manipulate letters. Drawing a straight line down the page and then hatching it off provided a column of "I's" This saved a lot of time. I remember the moment when I realized I could do this. That letters were just lines on the page that I could change & use for my benefit. It was heady. Maybe if I write this quote a few hundred more times I will remember to "be kind [to] everyone."