Have you ever been mean to a stranger who was nice back? Doesn't it make you feel terrible? You wonder what they must think of you. You can't take it back. It will always be in their memory banks. You blew it. It's over. There's nothing you can do about it.

What you can do to better your chances of forgiveness and to prevent it from ever happening again is to walk to the other side of the line. Be kind. To everyone. Even if they're rude to you, follow the one you offended and be kind back. Everyone knows how great it makes them feel, but somehow only few really maintain it.

Now, you might think that some people don't deserve kindness. Well, maybe you didn't deserve any kindness either after what you'd done, but remember how it felt and how you had a total paradigm shift from it? This person was loving. Even to people who didn't return it. This person had self-worth and saw the worth in the people around him. Even the worthless ones. And you had a taste of it. This person would love no more than to know that he/she had helped someone change for the better.

You can be that person. You can help others change, too, with your example. There's a good chance that person went through the same process he/she put you through. So make it a goal to look for the worth in everyone. Eventually, you'll come out on top and the rewards will be priceless. You'll wonder why you ever chose to be unkind. You'll be happy.

Yeah, that was pretty cheesy, but I had to get it out. Trust me, it's happened to me and I've really thought about it.