• “The ideas that have lighted my way have been kindness, beauty and truth.” ~  Albert Einstein




• “Kindness is the oil that smoothen the friction of life.” ~Anonymous




• “From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.” ~  Arthur Ashe




• “All you have shall some day be given; Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors.” ~  Kahlil Gibran




• “No matter how little you have, you can always give some of it away.” ~ Catherine Marshall




• “Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours.” ~ C. S. Lewis

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• Link to One Kind Act.com from your site. see below
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• Mention One Kind Act on Facebook or Twitter @onekindactaday
• Write a little post about One Kind Act or post an idea here.
• Encourage others to link to us or write a little post on their blog about One Kind Act.
• Purchase One Kind Act.Com merchandise to help us with our operating expenses

DISCLAIMER – Must Read!

• Your One Kind Act has the power to change the world!
• Results make take time to been seen.
• You may not receive an immediate thank you.
• The world may change and people make look at you and smile.
• Someone might let you get in line at the store.
• A driver may let you get in front of them, without getting annoyed.
• Someone may compliment you and truly mean it.
• You may make someone’s day.

Thought to Ponder
Every kind act, no matter how small, is like a pebble tossed into the pond of human caring. The rings reach out far beyond the point of impact. If we act more kindly toward the people around us, those people act more kindly toward the people around them, and so it goes, on and on.

The Fine Print
All of the above are typical results of One Kind Act. Please be sure you can handle the change, and you agree not to hold us liable for any kind act that you may receive.

Copy and Paste the HTML Code Below into your site or use the direct link.

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<a href=”http://www.onekindact.com”>One Kind Act – Change the World</a>

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Thanking you in advance,
All of us, (The Team) at One Kind Act.com

Since starting the One Kind Thing initiative a few people have asked me, “What qualifies as a ‘kind thing’?” At first I thought it was a silly question – surely everyone knows what a ‘kind thing’ is, don’t they?

But after several people asked me, I had to reflect on it and I came to the conclusion that it’s actually a good question. Many things potentially fall into the ‘kind thing’ category, but some things don’t. With that in mind, I tried to come up with a clear, easy to remember guideline for people to follow.

One thing that immediately came to mind is doing things that would be considered ‘good manners’ do not qualify. I realise that in 2011 ‘good manners’ has a different definition than when I was taught how to be a gentleman, so some things I consider to be basic ‘good manners’ would probably qualify as ‘kind things’ to some people. I have more thoughts on good manners but I’ll save that for another post.

So… In the context of The Initiative,

“Kind Thing” means an unnecessary act performed specifically to help another person with no expectation of reward.

I know that’s a pretty general description but I think it neatly sums up the idea of The Initiative. Let’s break it down into its key parts:

“unnecessary act” means it’s not something you are required to do, but includes a host of things that, in my mind, you should do. Let’s look at a couple of examples:

1. You notice that someone drops a glove as they get off a subway train. It’s not required that you should pick it up and chase them down to return the item. And some people will argue that it’s not even something that you should feel obligated to do. So if you took a few seconds to return the glove, that would qualify as your One Kind Thing.

2. You notice a lady with a push-chair (stroller) at the bottom of a flight of stairs. There’s no requirement that you offer to help her carry it to the top of the stairs. If you are able (have the strength) and you take the time to help, that would qualify as your One Kind Thing.

3. You hold the door for someone as you walk into a building. This falls into the ‘good manners’ category and would not qualify as a Kind Thing.

4. You give up your seat on a train/bus for an elderly, pregnant or disabled person. This falls into the ‘good manners’ category and would not qualify as a Kind Thing.

“performed specifically” means doing the act is not part of something you were already doing. It’s something you consciously thought, “hey, it would be nice if I did something for that person” and then acted on it.

“to help” means to provide some sort of assistance.

“another person” means exactly that – someone else. The unsaid part of the rule is “in person”. While it’s a great thing to do and we support it whole-heartedly, donating money to charity does not meet this criteria. You should be able to ‘see the whites of their eyes’ while performing your act. This is key and should not be overlooked. It’s the personal contact element of the Kind Things that makes them so powerful for everyone involved.

“with no expectation of reward” means you do it because you genuinely want to help someone else, not because you think you’ll get recognised – financially or otherwise – for it.

Essentially “kind thing” means whatever you want it to mean. If it feels like a kind thing to you, then it probably is!

Just get out there and do something!!

What have you done today?

This article has been reprinted in full from One Kind Thing.Org. Please visit their site to learn more about “The Kindness Movement.”

Did you know that being nice to others can actually be good for you?
My mother always chided me to be nice.  Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t.  After all, we all get grumpy from time-to-time and take it out on those around us. We can see that being nice to others is good for them, but did you know it is in your best interest too?  Recognizing the personal benefits of being nice might motivate us to do it a little more often like when that person cuts us off in traffic.

What does it mean to be nice?
Niceness is rather vague.  What exactly does it mean to be nice?
Well, in my mind, it means being kind, generous, agreeable, pleasant, respectable, friendly, forgiving and tactful.  It means going out of your way to treat others in the way that you want to be treated.
The best portion of a good man’s life – his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.  ~William Wordsworth

Being nice when you get cut off in traffic, means that instead of assuming the driver is an insane jerk and giving them the bird, you give them the benefit of the doubt.  Maybe they didn’t see you or maybe they were late for a very important meeting or maybe they just made a mistake.  Why not just smile and let it go?  It is good for you to be nice in these situations. Being nice also means doing kind acts.  It means volunteering, donating and pitching in to make your home, neighborhood and community a better place. It means offering yourself to a cause that you believe to be worthwhile.  This might be something big like saving the environment or little like helping your spouse carry in the groceries.

Nice is such a small word, but it has big implications.  It takes a little time and effort, but it is all so incredibly worth it. How being nice is good for you, let me count the ways First, let me say, that I don’t mean to turn being nice into something selfish.  We should certainly strive to be nice for altruistic reasons alone, but knowing the personal benefits might motivate us to be nice a little more often.  That’s my intention here.

Here are ten ways that being nice is good for you:

1. Being nice leads people to like you
It is much easier to like someone that is nice.  We all want friends that are kind, giving and considerate.  We want and need people in our lives that support us and that will be there for us when we need them.  The old saying, “Be a friend to have a friend” really holds true and research shows that those with a greater social network are often happier, healthier and more productive!

2.  Kindness promotes confidence and optimism
Doing kind acts and being nice builds one’s confidence and optimism.  It just makes us feel good about ourselves when we do things for others.  Giving of ourselves to others builds up our positive self-image.  It also gives us a sense of hope.  We feel more powerful and in control when we make a positive difference in the life of another.

3.  Niceness makes you feel good about yourself
Haven’t you heard that it is better to give than to receive?!?  In fact, studies have shown that the giver usually has a bigger boost in positive emotions than the receiver!  Being kind and nice really is good for you.  It gives you that warm, fuzzy feeling all over.  Of course, these positive feelings carry over into all areas of your life causing a general improvement in well-being.  This translates into feeling good about yourself.  What a bonus!

4. People will reciprocate in your time of need
From time-to-time, we all face challenges, disappointments and losses in our lives.  When you’ve been nice to others during their struggles, it is more likely they will return the favor during your time of need.  This is just human nature.  Most of us feel really motivated to help those that have helped us.  Stephen Covey described this as the emotional bank account.

5.  Doing good deeds adds meaning and significance to your life When you donate money to further a good cause or volunteer your time to help build a house for an underprivileged family or go visit a friend in the hospital, your life suddenly becomes much more meaningful and significant.  You are making this world a slightly better place with your acts of kindness.  This is valuable and it makes us feel important which is something we all want.

6.  Being a volunteer can help you discover hidden talents
Volunteering is a great way to be nice.  It can also help you to uncover talents you didn’t know you had.  They say that necessity is the mother of invention.  Well, when you put yourself in a position to see the needs of others, you might rise to the occasion and discover capabilities that you never knew you had.  This can be fun and exciting!

7.  Being a do-gooder relieves stress and guilt
Being nice and doing good deeds is a less stressful way to live.  It creates less conflict and avoids feelings of guilt over bad behavior.  In addition, the act of doing something nice for another generates those great feelings that seem to trump all that stress that we build up from daily living.

8.  Helping others will make you feel thankful and advantaged
When we engage in assisting others in their time of need, we often walk away feeling better about our situation.  We naturally compare our lives to those that we are helping.  This comparison can leave you feeling more grateful for the life you have.  You’ll be able to see just how advantaged you are!

9.  Being nice fosters a greater sense of family and community
Your niceness will lead you to meet all kinds of people and get involved in a plethora of worthwhile activities.  This builds a greater sense of togetherness.  Even within your own family unit, you can foster an increased sense of connectedness and fondness toward one another by being extra thoughtful.  Being nice has a powerful effect!

10.  Engaging in generous acts distracts you from your own troubles
Doing nice things for others can serve as a useful distraction from the the challenges you face.  If you are trying to quit a bad habit, then generously engage yourself in helping others to keep your mind off of smoking or eating or biting your nails.  This is an excellent strategy that profits you and others!

Go be nice and you’ll experience many positive benefits!
As you can see from the list above, being nice has many benefits.  Wouldn’t the world be such a better place if we were all just a little nicer today?  We would all feel so much better about one another and ourselves too!  I challenge you to increase your effort at being nice and see for yourself what it does for your attitude and happiness.

This article first appeared on the Blog My Supercharged Life
It has been re-printed in full.

Giving to others allows us to show our gratitude to the universe. When we have been blessed with more than we need, we might sometimes feel that by saving what we have, we will be more secure. True certainty, however, comes from using our resources to help create a world in which everyone has what they need to live—a place where there is no fear caused by a lack of food, shelter, and love. We will find that the more we give to others, the more we will receive because we are working toward ensuring not only our own security but creating a thriving community for everyone. By sharing with others today, your actions will reflect and honor the abundance the universe has given you.

About this Article
Reprinted with permission from DailyOM.com – Inspirational thoughts for a happy, healthy and fulfilling day. Register for free @www.dailyom.com © 2004-2011 DailyOM – All Rights Reserved.

In the quest to create a gentler, more loving world, kindness is the easiest tool we can use. Though it is easy to overlook opportunities to be kind, our lives are replete with situations in which we can be helpful, considerate, thoughtful, and friendly to loved ones and associates, as well as strangers. The touching, selfless acts of kindness that have the most profoundly uplifting effects are often the simplest: a word of praise, a gentle touch, a helping hand, a gesture of courtesy, or a smile. Such small kindnesses represent an unconditional, unrestricted form of love that we are free to give or withhold at will. When you give the gift of kindness, whether in the form of assistance, concern, or friendliness, your actions create a beacon of happiness and hope that warms people’s hearts.

The components of kindness are compassion, respect, and generosity. Put simply, kindness is the conscious act of engaging others in a positive way without asking whether those individuals deserve to be treated kindly. All living beings thrive on kindness. A single, sincere compliment can turn a person’s entire world around. Holding a door or thanking someone who has held a door for you can inspire others to practice politeness and make already kind individuals feel good about their efforts. Smiling at people you meet-even those who make you feel like frowning-can turn a dreary encounter into a delightful one, for both of you. Every kind act has a positive influence on the individual who has performed said act as well as on the recipient, regardless of whether the act is acknowledged. Kindness brings about more kindness and slowly but surely takes a positive toll on humanity.

Weaving the thread of kindness into your everyday life can be as easy as choosing to offer a hearty “Good morning” and “Good night” to your coworkers or neighbors, a stranger on the street, or the grocery store clerk. When you commit a kind act, you are momentarily disconnected from your ego and bonded with the individual who has benefited from your kindness. Being fully present in each moment of your life facilitates kindness as it increases your awareness of the people around you. You’ll discover that each act of kindness you engage in makes the world, in some small way, a better place.

About this Article
Reprinted with permission from DailyOM.com – Inspirational thoughts for a happy, healthy and fulfilling day. Register for free @www.dailyom.com © 2004-2011 DailyOM – All Rights Reserved.

Kindness and Intention

Dr. Wayne Dyer in his book, the Power of Intention, names seven faces of intention. They are, in no particular order,

1. Love
2. Creativity
3. Beauty
4. Expansion
5. Unlimited Abundance
6. Receptivity
7. And Kindness

Kindness, Dyer deduces, is an innate power of intention because anything that has the capability to create must be kind. If it were unkind, it would destroy itself. Intention, as Dyer and many other spiritual and success experts have concluded, is an energetic power. When you’re able to access this power, you can use it to create anything in your life you want – anything you intend.

People access the power of intention through verbal or written statements, for example, “I intend to launch a new product this year,” through vision boards, and through quiet prayer. However, to amplify this power, one must embrace and be the seven faces of intention, including kindness.

When you’re unkind, you block the power of intention and move away from what you want most. When you are kind and embrace kindness, you welcome the power of intention and move closer to your heart’s desire.

Kindness and Attraction

The law of attraction is another energetic law, much like intention. The law of attraction has a number of definitions. However, one that is strongly held to be true is that your thoughts and beliefs dictate your reality. What you think and believe therefore will be true. If you believe everyone is out to get you then they will be and if you believe everyone is kind then they will be.

Whether or not this is completely true, you cannot argue with the fact that if you are kind and put out kindness both in your thoughts, beliefs and actions, you receive kindness in return. In fact, in the very popular book, The Secret, they discuss the fact that positive energy is much more powerful than negative energy and when you put out positive energy like kindness, you receive it tenfold back. Think about what that kind of energy could do for your business!

Kindness and Reciprocity

Reciprocity is the tendency people have to reciprocate or give back. It’s often used in business to generate leads or sales. For example, a business may give away a book to motivate purchases and generate sales. However, reciprocity also works with kindness. When you perform an act of kindness, the person on the receiving end of the kindness and those who witness it tend to reciprocate by passing along the kindness to others. The kindness spreads. And of course, people are kind to you in return.

When you’re kind to others, you receive kindness in return and you spread the kindness around the world. Consider the difference to your day between someone cutting you off and someone making room to let you merge into traffic. One motivates you to smile and wave, and probably reciprocate the kindness by letting someone else into traffic; the other may motivate you to offer a different hand gesture and a feeling of anger and defensiveness – not much fun for anyone.

Kindness and Better Health

Stress is a fact of life for most. It’s a human coping mechanism; our bodies were designed for it. Some stress keeps us alive and protects us from harm. Other stress, stress we manifest in our mind like the stress when something doesn’t go the way we expect it to, has a detrimental effect on our body. Our immune system is compromised, or organs age and we suffer diabetes, cancer, weight gain, insomnia and so on. It’s not very pretty.

Kindness is the cure. In a study reported by ABC news on Women and Depression serotonin levels are increased when a person is kind or receives kindness. “Serotonin is not only a neurotransmitter allowing brain cells to talk to each other, but also a buffer against stress.”

People who volunteer and who are generally kind in nature, often performing random acts of kindness, have higher serotonin levels. However, people who are recipients of kindness and who witness acts of kindness also receive a boost in serotonin. Serotonin is an endorphin that not only protects against depression; it strengthens your immune system and provides a ‘feel good’ effect.

The end result? When you’re kind and surround yourself with kind people, you not only live a happier, healthier and less stressful life, you receive abundance. Kindness enables you to maximize your powers of intention and attraction. You’re surrounding yourself with positive energy, which in turn attracts more positive energy. You have better customers, better partnerships, better working relationships, better personal relationships too, better experiences in and out of business and ultimately more profits and success.

There’s no lose here. When you’re kind, everyone benefits in myriad ways. The universe gives back, people give back and your own body gives back with increased serotonin. Kindness helps you embrace intention to create the life you desire. Kindness attracts more kindness and abundance. Kindness encourages reciprocity. And kindness improves your health and peace of mind.

Your next step….
Do something kind. Hold open a door for a mom with her arms full. Let someone merge into traffic ahead of you even though they may not deserve it and you may be in a hurry. Lend a helping hand to someone in need. Give someone a compliment. Share a smile with a stranger. The opportunities for kindness are limitless. And when you change your thoughts from negative to positive, from unkind to kind, your entire world changes.

Make kindness a habit. Practice kindness every day. When you feel an unkind thought or action bubbling up inside you, kick it aside and replace it with a kind, or at least a neutral, thought. For example, if someone cuts you off in traffic instead of cursing them out, you can consider the fact that maybe they honestly didn’t see you or they’re having a really difficult day. Have compassion and understanding. Soon you’ll find that kindness is your default. That’s when the real fun begins!

About The Author:

Jeremy Gislason is the owner of SureFireWealth Inc and the publisher of the self improvement series at http://www.mindmaptoriches.com. His book “Mindmap to riches” will boost your self-confidence and get you thinking with a positive attitude daily.

We often feel that we don’t have the time or energy to extend ourselves to others with the small gestures that compose what we call common courtesy. It sometimes seems that this kind of social awareness belongs to the past, to smaller towns and slower times. Yet, when someone extends this kind of courtesy to us, we always feel touched. Someone who lends a helping hand when we are struggling with our groceries makes an impression because many people just walk right by. Even someone who simply makes the effort to look us in the eye, smile, and greet us properly when entering a room stands out of the crowd. It seems these people carry with them the elegance and grace of another time, and we are always thankful for our contact with them. Common courtesy is a small gesture that makes a big difference.

An essential component of common courtesy is awareness and common sense-looking outside yourself to see when someone needs help or acknowledgment. As a courteous person, you are aware that you are walking into a room full of people or that your waiter has arrived to take your order. Then, awareness leads to action. It is usually quite clear what needs to be done-open the door for the woman holding the baby, move your car up two feet so another person can park behind you, acknowledge your sister’s shy boyfriend with a smile and some conversation, apologize if you bump into someone. A third component is to give courtesy freely, without expecting anything in return. People may not even take notice, much less return the kindness, but you can take heart in the fact that you are creating the kind of world you want to live in with your actions.

When you are out in the world, remember to be aware of others, lend your hand when one is needed, and give this help without an ulterior motive. Through these small actions, you make this world a better place in which to live.

Reprinted with permission from DailyOM.com – Inspirational thoughts for a happy, healthy and fulfilling day. Register for free at www.dailyom.com © 2004-2011 DailyOM – All Rights Reserved.

• “From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life. ”
  ~ Arthur Ashe

• “Kindness is the oil that smoothen the friction of life.”
  ~  Anonymous

• “The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but to reveal to him, his own. ”
  ~ Benjamin Disraeli