Whether you live in the U.S. and celebrate Thanksgiving as November holiday or simply take time to notice the blessings you enjoy, including love, kindness, nature, shelter, potable water, and food enough for sustenance, I wanted to share this affirmation of life with you:
My Affirmation of Life
* Today my heart will be filled with love and joy.
* I will be grateful for the goodness in my life, and will strengthen my sense
of trust and peace.
* I will welcome each day and will make a powerful effort to shift my dreads
and negative thoughts to positive, upbeat ones.
* I will show kindness to all I meet and feel a warm glow inside for having
done so.
May this week be a time of family, friends and joy for all of you ~
Linda
Showing posts with label kindness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kindness. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Offering Kindness
An acquaintance just told me he was going to give a 12YO boy 2 cans of his favorite soda as a birthday gift. But the boy had been receiving really bad grades in school and had been given in-school suspension. (Whether that was for the bad grades or a different infraction, the man didn't say.)
However, because of the problems the boy was experiencing, the man was only going to give him one can, and it was an obscure off-brand instead of his favorite.
I said maybe what the boy needed most was that 2nd can as an AttaBoy, a vote of confidence that showed the giver believed the receiver could do it - a kindly boost to the child's self-confidence. But the man said, Oh, no! This one can is my AttaBoy. He doesn't even deservce that.
Even my saying it seemed like there had been punishment enough failed to sway him.
And I wondered - how many people try to make themselves seem superior by punishing and putting down another person. No one who demeans another can be superior or even appear to be.
It seems to me that kindness freely given is usually returned many fold in one way or another.What do you think?
Linda
However, because of the problems the boy was experiencing, the man was only going to give him one can, and it was an obscure off-brand instead of his favorite.
I said maybe what the boy needed most was that 2nd can as an AttaBoy, a vote of confidence that showed the giver believed the receiver could do it - a kindly boost to the child's self-confidence. But the man said, Oh, no! This one can is my AttaBoy. He doesn't even deservce that.
Even my saying it seemed like there had been punishment enough failed to sway him.
And I wondered - how many people try to make themselves seem superior by punishing and putting down another person. No one who demeans another can be superior or even appear to be.
It seems to me that kindness freely given is usually returned many fold in one way or another.What do you think?
Linda
Monday, September 27, 2010
Kindness for Stress-Relief
I recently stumbled upon an old fashioned sort of stress-reliever: kindness through giving. It started out as one of those chores we put off for years - cleaning out my bedroom closet. The reasons to put it off seemed to far outweigh my reasons to just do it.
1. I don't have time to tackle such a big job.
2. Once I start, I'll have to either finish the job or step over a massive pile of old clothes for weeks (or months) to come.
3. If this new-found self-discipline sticks, I'll lose enough weight to fit back into that.
4. That embroidered vest holds such loving memories for me, I can't bear to part with it!
Eventually, I realized that I only had to deal with one section of the closet at a time, that even if I could wear those outfits again, they were no longer my style, and that it was time for me to either pass that vest along or have it framed, I slid open the door and dug in.
Once those realities had sunk in, it took an amazingly short time to fill up two large trash bags with skirts, jackets, blouses and shoes for the clothing donations box a couple of miles away.
I drove down the street and pulled over beside the yellow, house-shaped container, and with a fine sense of accomplishment, I deposited first one plastic bag then the other. (Although I very nearly dove in after them to reclaim that vest!)
By the way, the vest was a lush dark green lined cotton with swirls of white and rust colored ribbon embroidery on the front~
But somehow, on the short drive home, my thoughts shifted from my loss of the vest to hoping that whoever wears it next will feel just as grand and self-confident as I had and create her own glowing memories. And I smiled right down through my heart!
It's a fact that kindness given stirs our body's production of seratonin (the calming hormone) and oxytocin (the snuggle hormone), but little did I realize how powerful it could be against long-term stress.
When you do decide to bite the bullet and tidy up your closet, think of it as a giving opportunity rather than a chore - it's a definite feel-good!
Happy giving ~
Lin
1. I don't have time to tackle such a big job.
2. Once I start, I'll have to either finish the job or step over a massive pile of old clothes for weeks (or months) to come.
3. If this new-found self-discipline sticks, I'll lose enough weight to fit back into that.
4. That embroidered vest holds such loving memories for me, I can't bear to part with it!
Eventually, I realized that I only had to deal with one section of the closet at a time, that even if I could wear those outfits again, they were no longer my style, and that it was time for me to either pass that vest along or have it framed, I slid open the door and dug in.
Once those realities had sunk in, it took an amazingly short time to fill up two large trash bags with skirts, jackets, blouses and shoes for the clothing donations box a couple of miles away.
I drove down the street and pulled over beside the yellow, house-shaped container, and with a fine sense of accomplishment, I deposited first one plastic bag then the other. (Although I very nearly dove in after them to reclaim that vest!)
By the way, the vest was a lush dark green lined cotton with swirls of white and rust colored ribbon embroidery on the front~
But somehow, on the short drive home, my thoughts shifted from my loss of the vest to hoping that whoever wears it next will feel just as grand and self-confident as I had and create her own glowing memories. And I smiled right down through my heart!
It's a fact that kindness given stirs our body's production of seratonin (the calming hormone) and oxytocin (the snuggle hormone), but little did I realize how powerful it could be against long-term stress.
When you do decide to bite the bullet and tidy up your closet, think of it as a giving opportunity rather than a chore - it's a definite feel-good!
Happy giving ~
Lin
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