What if you received a smile with every sales transaction and smiled back?
What if your neighbor picked up your trash can lid rather than watching it blow down the street?
What if you didn't shake your fist at the driver who wouldn't allow you to merge into traffic?
Research tells us that emotions are contagious. When we feel good we extend those good feelings to the next person we encounter. When we communicate in a more respectful and effective way, our brain chemistry signals us to feel better about the world around us. When we feel better about the world around us, we pass it along. We pay it forward. Our quality of life is improved.
That's what Because It Matters is all about: Improving quality of life by increasing civic participation, civil discourse, and social capital. Those are all stylish words for politeness, good manners, and making connections to the community, and those behaviors are the glue for creating the social network we need to live happy, healthy lives.
From the Foundation for a Better Life
Quote of the Day - December 31, 2009
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“I appreciate people who are civil, whether they mean it or not. I think: Be civil. Do not cherish your opinion over my feelings. There's a vanity to candor that isn't really worth it. Be kind.” —Richard Greenberg |
To make a contribution in support of the Because It Matters initiative, click here and select "Because It Matters Civility Fund" from the drop down menu.
To order Because It Matters apparel, click here.
“I wanted to send you a note to let you know that the Because It Matters T-shirts that we distributed to our child care providers have been a huge success! The teachers all love them. They also generate a lot of discussion with parents and others who see the teachers wearing them, and of course that is part of what we hoped would happen.”
J. Kahn, LMSW
Executive Director
Early Learning Coalition of
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Owned by the community. Supported by Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice, Florida.
