Hello Kind and Wonderful You!
Today is day one of 21 days of kindness. I know you have already started. But today we start as a group and my excitement is ***off the charts***.
I tell you, there is NOTHING like kindness as a way of taking the joy of living to a whole other level.
If you’ve done previous 21-day programs with me, you know about my commitment to wholeness and balance. The Five Vital VenuesTM of life ensures balance: the venues of self, relationships, home, work and community/place of worship are vital to this balance we all seek.
These are the venues we operate in on a regular basis so it follows that we must find peace and joy in each.
You would also know about the need for organization and accountability.
My suggestions:
1) devote a notebook/journal to this journey, writing about your acts of kindness, who they served, how you felt, what motivated it and so forth, will add great insights, space for reflection, AND the memories will be there for future reference
2) to aide in remaining accountable team up with one or more friends and share your plans and your accomplishments – this will help with carrying out your intentions as well as with maintaining the highest level of motivation.
I strongly suggest that you share your acts of kindness with the rest of us. It is SO encouraging to read about the wonderful things others have done and – research does show, as a matter of fact, that the people who observe acts of kindness, not just those who give them and receive them, but also those who simply observe them receive the benefits like increased flow of serotonin (the ‘happy hormone’) and decreased stress levels.
So let’s share, get others involved and spread this kindness bug – it is contagious you know, so let’s pass it along from one to the next. (Another great reason to share is the creative ideas you come up with can be tried by others!)
TODAY…let us do THREE acts of kindness:
1) Do something kind for YOURSELF like one of these:
► Change negative self-chatter to something positive and encouraging
► FORGIVE yourself for what was left undone yesterday
► TAKE A BREAK at an unusual time and take a walk
► Be kind to your body and REFUSE to eat anything you already know is not good for you
► SMILE at your reflection as you pass a mirror
2) Do something kind for a loved one like one of these:
► Leave a love note to be found as a surprise
► Stay longer in a routine hug or peck on the cheek as you soak in the love between you
► Give them 10 minutes of uninterrupted time where you simply listen
3) Do something randomly for anyone, anywhere …unplanned, let it just pop up during the course of your day
Enjoy this journey my wonderful friend – I just know that many lives will be changed and much joy and excitement will come from all we do over the next 21 days. ENJOY it, soak it all in and share it with each other.
We are here for love and kindness to grow and spread from one to the other – it is the ultimate currency of life…so let’s do it at our highest and best!
Wishing you an abundance of love and kindness,
♥~
Day 2:
Act of kindness for myself: I had a piece of chocolate.
Act of kindness for a loved one: I called my dad to check up on him and to tell him, ” I love him”. I also
saw one of my grandchildren today, and I gave him a big hug and told him I loved him.
A random act of kindness: I took some time to really listen to some problems of a very good friend of mine.
Norma…you’re on a roll my friend! Listening…boy we sure do underestimate the power of THAT act of kindness. To this day I remember with clarity the people in my young life who truly listened to me, with open heart, eyes and ears. Great…it would be great if you kept these in a ‘gratitude journal’ for your own enjoyment one day. (and even for your grandchildren)
Thank you for sharing! ♥~
The first act of kindness on day 1 for myself: I had something healthy for breakfast.
The act of kindness for a loved one: I saw my nephew today, and gave him a long hug and told him I missed & loved him.
A random act of kindness: I work at an elementary school, and I went up to a little girl that I knew and told her I was proud of her behavior lately then gave her a hug.
Hi Norma…I know this will sound silly but I got goose bumps visualizing you hugging your nephew and the little girl at school. My goodness…do you realize how that must have felt? Thank you for sharing…and YES! to the healthy breakfast. Funny enough, I started being even more mindful of that this week and had some great oatmeal with nuts and raisins (love it with grapes too) yesterday. Just fantastic!
Thank you again for letting me and silent readers enjoy your acts of kindness. ♥~
My three acts of kindness for Day 1:
Something kind for myself:
I had a double scoop ice cream cone 🙂 heh
Something kind for a loves one:
I work at families home… I straightened up the house for them, washed all the dishes and put them away so that they would have a little more free time for themselves after a long day of work.
Something random:
I found myself giving words of encouragement through out the day when someone was feeling down to help lift their spirits.
Hi Lindsay!
It was so nice to read your comment – on the event wall. Love that you permit yourself a guilt-free indulgence :-)…and of course your other acts of kindness, I’m sure made a huge difference to everybody involved.
If we stopped to think how many people can benefit from one simple act – like a ripple effect, with a pebble hitting the water, we would probably do so much more.
Thank you so much for sharing and caring. ♥~