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How
it all began For the rest of the day, and in the days that followed, I did think about it........a lot. First, and most obvious, was the realization that having a nice day was a passive event. It took no activity on my part and it was selfish. Only I benefited. On the other hand, taking a nice day was active and required conscious thought and effort. Furthermore, it was directed outward, toward another person or persons who would become the beneficiaries of an overt act of kindness. Then I started thinking of the message itself. In slightly different variations I had been exposed to it from early childhood. In first grade I used a 'Golden Ruler' with the inscription, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." We learned the same lesson in Sunday School with minor variations in text. Later, in the Boy Scouts, one of the first things that we were taught was that Boy Scouts seek to "Do a good turn daily." There were many other thoughts that came to me but to make a long story relatively short, I decided to make it my personal slogan. Prior to my next birthday, I ordered a vanity license plate for my personal automobile, with the inscription M-A-N-D. It has turned out to be a great conversation starter. I use it in daily conversations, use it to end phone messages, and to complete the voice mail message on my answering machine. Over the years, several others have adopted it to their own use. Now I am adding it to my web site. With a little luck, an academician in Kentucky will come across the site and remember the meeting. He'll know that I remembered, and thought about it, and I'm still doing so....... Making A Nice Day!!!! (M-A-N-D)
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