I doubt if any child ever wanted to grow up to be a grouch, or thoughtless, or unkind, but it happens. Many a sweet child becomes the adult they never planned on. By consciously deciding to be a kinder, better, person and by taking some simple actions everyday, each one of us can be someone that child would be proud to be like when they grow up.
Read more: How to Be a Kinder Person

1. The Sun Always Rises
   Most people have probably heard about practicing random acts of kindness and about paying it forward, but unless you make kindness a priority, and work on being a kinder person everyday, your life will continue on in the same fashion it always has and you will have missed countless opportunities to help others, to ease someone’s troubles, or to make the world a better place. There are things you can do no matter who you are, where you live, or what your life circumstances are, to be a kinder person, so you really don’t have any excuses.
2. Smiling is powerful
   Everyday kindnesses are those little thoughtful acts that we all know we should do, but sometimes we just can’t be bothered. Maybe it seems like too much trouble to help your neighbor carry in her groceries or to stop along the freeway to help someone change a tire. The opportunity to help this person will never come again, and you are there for a reason, so go beyond your comfort zone, at least once each day and do something for someone else, just for the heck of it, with no expectations, no desire to be appreciated, and no money to be gained on your part. Another super easy kindness we can all do every single day is smile at the people we see, including our own families. Studies have shown the power of a smile to be far greater than previously thought. A genuine heartfelt smile has even saved a life or two, by giving someone who was suicidal hope and the courage to go on.
3. Helping Others
   If the thought of being kind to everyone and in every circumstance is a little overwhelming then start small. There is an organization that promotes the idea of doing one kind act per day. So, if you let someone go ahead of you in a busy line at the store for example, there’s your one kind act for the day and you’re done. One kind act a day adds up to 365 kind acts a year though, and there’s nothing small about that number.
4. Suggestions
   For some suggestions for doing some good in the world, through your daily acts of kindness, check out the web sites listed in the resources section below. There are some very interesting ways that people have figured out to be kind to someone else. For example many people have given a dollar to a homeless person, but what about the lady that carries small backpacks full of supplies for the homeless in her car everyday. The backpacks are full of things like toothpaste and toothbrushes, food that doesn’t need to be cooked, and socks. All valuable items for the homeless, and it doesn’t cost her much. She hands out the backpacks instead of money when she sees a homeless person.
5. Kind Words
   Kind words cost you nothing and many of us can really use some lessons concerning our unkind speaking habits. Practise speaking more positively to everyone you meet. Learn to speak more kindly to yourself also. That rude, judgmental, voice inside your own head is doing you a lot more harm than you realize. Turn it off and cultivate an inner voice that speaks to you in a kinder, gentler, fashion than you may be used to. You would probably be horrified if anyone else spoke to you so unkindly, so stop speaking to yourself that way.

Resources:

• Helping Others
• One Kind Act
• Dare To Be An Angel
• Extreme Kindness

Read more: How to Be a Kinder Person | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_4437310_be-kinder-person.html#ixzz0yNIc9OdS

Well, I suppose my story is not so very different or special from what others may share, but the impact on me – and for me – and to me – at one point taxed satisfactory verbal description.

The enormity of the kindness that I received can now best be described as life-changing. You see, for most of my life, at least as far back as I can remember anyway, I have been The Giver, The Fixer, The Caretaker, believing I had this responsibility for everyone else, that I owed this somehow, and as a result of this misplaced guilt or self-imposed duty, would make the choices and changes for others, often at my own detriment. But, no matter and not to worry, God’s blessings always seem to come to me and I managed to survive and even thrive.

To live in such a way I know now is exhausting and unhealthy, believing as I did that I was not deserving of the same kindnesses – oh my no! Tom doesn’t need any help, I have a way that works for me.

Being diagnosed with liposarcoma, thought for years to be a benign lipoma resting along my cervical spine, nearly ruined my reputation! What?! Tom is SICK? How?! What will people think! No one can know.

All of a sudden, I couldn’t hardly function, let alone take care of myself or anyone else. Did I surrender, ask for help, reach out?

No. I didn’t keep it a secret, and wondered why at the time.

I soldiered on and suffered and refused assistance until one afternoon when an angel sternly yet kindly said to me: “Tom, we don’t know what to do for you, people want to help, we’re terrified for you, please don’t take their joy away by refusing!”

I was thunderstruck, crying even, at the sheer simple beauty of these words. I began to accept the random, deliberate, and caring little ways from others, and my load was lifted. People rushed to do what they could – rides to the hospital for radiation therapy, rides to and from work, coffee and water brought to me, food, whatever. I began to see the synergy and power within such kind acts, and saw the world very differently.

Yes, I was weaker, sick, needy, and to allow others to see this was itself akin to bringing down the walls of Troy. And then another miracle from my boss who finds it very difficult to speak of anything serious, intimate or painful; he said “Tom I need you to be here, and you need to be here, we all need you too much maybe, but I don’t want you coming in if you are sick or unwell because you are worried about the money.”

I had no leave left, and my paychecks were half of what they had been owing to my frequent absences. He published a regional and then a national leave donation request that brought over 240 hours to my “leave bank,” thereby allowing me to continue to work a reduced tour, or to stay out a day or two, but having an 80 hour paycheck every two weeks.

The rules prohibit me knowing who gave what, and that frustrated me for a time, but now I am calm in the knowledge that I deserved this extraordinary help, and that I am battling cancer in order to finally learn some basic Life Lessons.

Yes, it took this dramatic and frightening diagnosis to get me to understand that it is OK to need help, that it is OK to ask for help, and that it is OK to accept help, and maybe even downright rude to refuse it!

Healing I believe, began that afternoon when that angel scolded me into that first step toward accepting my own mortality and frailty.

One Kind Act from just one person makes a difference we can never fully appreciate or know. Oh sure, in the moment we do, but what we then do pays this One Kind Act forward forever!

T.F.
Philadelphia, Pa

This morning I watched a recorded segment from an Oprah Show that told the story of a woman, Angela, who prayed with a young man who attempted to rob her at gunpoint while she worked behind the counter in her office. I imagine many of you may have heard about the story. Out of fear and desperation, she begged the man to spare her life and then started praying out loud asking to be protected. She told him, “You’re too young to do this. Don’t throw away your precious life. You don’t look like a person who would want to hurt someone.” The young man insisted that he had no choice because his family was about to be evicted from their home. He didn’t know what else to do.

Eventually, as the woman continued to talk with him, the man dropped to his knees, began to cry, and asked her to pray with him. And she did. Shortly after he gave her the bullet from the gun and said, “No one’s ever talked to me like this.”

It was that line that stayed with me long after the story was over. As it turns out, the young man was depressed, had attempted suicide in the past, and was now feeling enormous pressure to provide for his fiance and young child without believing he had the ability to do so (and given his state of mind, he didn’t). One simple act of love from a woman who reinforced the preciousness of his life was what he needed to see a different way. Later in the evening he turned himself in and is awaiting a hearing. It is my hope that he gets counseling and guidance, and a chance to help others with a lengthy community service project that will teach him a new trade.

When times are tough and life feels dire, solutions and help can seem so far away, completely unavailable, or overwhelming at best. But, more times than not, the opening to grace begins with an act of love – a willingness to listen rather than criticize, a prayer of forgiveness, an affirming statement that reminds a young woman of her inherent goodness, or an offer of support that sets a dad on a better path.

Today I vow to remember this. In my life I’ve been witness to the fact that a simple act of love contains a kind of power that goes beyond what the human mind can comprehend. It can shift consciousness in an instant and change a life forever. As I go about my week, I intend to smile at strangers more, look for opportunities to speak an encouraging word, or offer a prayer of hope for someone in need. I invite you to join me. Check out the “Take Action Challenge” below and use your own simple act of love to change a life forever.

Take Action Challenge

Imagine that within your heart lies a powerful force that can move mountains. Your loving thoughts can heal. Your loving words can calm a worried soul. Your loving actions can do more good than you may ever know. Affirm your willingness to use this power for good in the world. Then, invite opportunities to come to you and keep your eyes open.

Life Makeover for the Year 2009(sm) is written and produced by Cheryl Richardson.© Copyright 1999-2009 Cheryl Richardson, P.O. Box 13, Newburyport, MA 01950, www.cherylrichardson.com. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

~ Barbara De Angelis

“Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much.”

~ Blaise Pascal

“My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.”

~ The Dalai Lama

It is not about reading goodness that people do, it’s about doing goodness. It’s about making a change in your life, in your community, for a better world in which to live. I strongly suggest, or maybe the word is challenge, I challenge you to stop reading and start doing.One daily deed a day is all you have to do, you will feel so good about making a difference, you will want to do another and another. Don’t sit back and think it’s for the other guy to do. We change the world, one person, one kindness, one deed at a time. Be the change you want to see in the world.

It’s not only a matter of doing. What if everyone told someone they know about Project Linus, or started a get together with your friends once a month to make blankets for Project Linus, now you have a monthly social get together for a good cause.

Put a flyer in your church, or supermarket, with the idea, post your number, now you have a group of new friends!

Better yet, if you know of seniors, or contact a senior facility, tell them about the project. Ask them to knit or crochet 9 x 9 squares and you will pick them up, then have your group put the blankets together. Makes the seniors wake up everyday to a job they need to do, making them feel needed. Go back and take pictures with them when the blankets are made. They can post it in their monthly newsletter. I’m sure they’d be smiling for days over that.

Look in the phone book, and call your local assisted living, ask to speak to the activities director, and tell him/her about the Sunkist Lemonade stand. This would be a perfect project for seniors to do, they can raise funds for the local food bank, donate to the girls scouts, or to an animal shelter. It’s so important for seniors to feel needed and this is the perfect task. This is something they can make, and surely be able to sit and sell in front of their facility. This site is about change, and passing on ideas is helping to make a difference.

Take it from an ex-activities director, ideas are always welcome. This great idea was posted by Kindness Matters, as was Project Linus, way to go!!

You don’t have to necessarily do it, you can be a co-coordinator, let’s face it, not all of us have the energy to garden, but if we posted a flyer calling all high school students that need community hours. Become a Gardening Angel, earn your hours and make a difference. I’m sure if you contact any church, they will post that in their weekly bulletin, along with an ad on anyone physically not able to garden and is in need, please call (your telephone number) all you have to do is co-ordinate the two.

I have read such great ideas on this blog site.  I myself have started the Birthday Club (thanks Betty)

This article has been re-posted. It originates from Blog 4 Change.org. Blog4Change.org is a charity project that allows anyone who wants one a free blog. A simple platform is used so users can easily start blogging about all the positive things they have done in their life that have influenced positive change in others. Think of this site as a daily journal of positive action. Be sure to visit Blog4Change.org for more articles.

When I was a commentator covering the NBA playoffs for the NBA on NBC, my field producer, Pete Radovich, and I traveled countless miles to report on games in a half-dozen cities. Between the wild crowds and bright lights and intense playoff action, we experienced a lot of down time. And without fail, whether we were in an airport or restaurant or hotel lobby, we would marvel at the courtesy—or lack thereof—of our fellow Americans.

Since Pete and I are such avid people watchers, we turned our observations into a game that we called, “Find Today’s Best Good Samaritan.” It was not as easy as it sounds.

Most days, we’d spy people performing simple tasks like holding the door or assisting with the retrieval of luggage from the overhead compartment. Occasionally we’d see someone engaged in the unusual act of assisting a stranded motorist.

But mostly, we saw men and women whose only concern was protecting their own miniscule space on this third rock from the sun. They were not interested in anything other than to get where they were going, so get out of their way!

One off day, when there was not a Good Samaritan to be found, Pete told me an amazing story of someone who could have been a candidate for Good Samaritan of the Year. He was speaking of his wife, Nancy.

One night, as she waited at JFK Airport for Pete to arrive from a game in Portland, she saw a group of men load their luggage into a van and then quickly pull away. In their wake, Nancy noticed they had left something stranded on the luggage cart. She got out to investigate and realized it was a leather portfolio containing someone’s personal life story: cellular phone, keys, credit cards, a sailor book, airline ticket, and passport.

This oversight was going to be that someone’s personal nightmare.

When Pete arrived, Nancy showed him the portfolio and explained what she had seen. After further examination, Pete concluded that the portfolio’s owner was a 21-year-old Norwegian sailor who was returning home from working on a ship in the Caribbean. He had landed at JFK and was transferring to Newark Airport for his flight to Norway.

Or, at least, that’s what he thought.

Upon even closer inspection, Pete discovered a hidden compartment from which he removed 71 one-hundred-dollar bills—that’s $7,100 in cash! Finders keepers, right?

Pete admitted that, naturally, the thought of keeping the money crossed his mind. They could just return the portfolio’s contents to the airline, which would then track down the sailor and help him get safely home.

As Pete fingered the cash, Nancy painted a picture of a 21-year-old kid who had just lost his entire paycheck and all forms of identity and was stranded in a foreign country with nothing but a world of trouble. Nancy inspired her husband—battle-weary from an extra-long day—to step on the gas and drive to Newark Airport in hopes of finding the lost soul.

Along the way they let their minds wander through the many ways they could spend their newfound treasure. When they arrived at the Scandinavian Airline counter, Pete and Nancy noticed a young man, obviously a wreck, being consoled by his friends.

“Stefan?” Pete said. “I think you forgot something.”

The sailor’s eyes widened like saucers as Pete pulled out the portfolio. “How? Where? I don’t understand….”

After some small talk and an emotional goodbye, Pete and Nancy turned to go.

“Wait!” Stefan said, and thrust a wad of bills into Pete’s reluctant hand. “I insist … and thanks again!”

It was a $1,000. And as of the next morning, it was the best $1,000 that Pete and Nancy ever spent!
PC

About Pat Croce:
Since the 6th grade, when Pat Croce began delivering daily newspapers door-to-door, he has demonstrated a dynamic entrepreneurial spirit. Upon graduation from the University of Pittsburgh in 1977 with a BS in Physical Therapy and certification in Athletic Training, he pioneered the concept of sports medicine. In 1979 he opened the first sports medicine center in the United States with the Haverford Community Hospital Sports Medicine Center. Four years later, he opened Sports Physical Therapists, the first private non-hospital-based sports medicine center in the country. Ten years later, he opened the fortieth center.

Following the highly profitable sale of Sports Physical Therapists to a public company in 1995, Croce focused his entrepreneurial energy and indestructible positive attitude on the purchase of the NBA’s last-place team, the Philadelphia 76ers. During his 5-year tenure as president and minority owner (1996-2001), the team rose from worst to first in the NBA standings and broke franchise records in attendance, revenue, merchandise, and consecutive wins on the way to the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2001.

Croce’s ascension from the training room to the board room, and his remarkable success in the resurrection of the Philadelphia 76ers as a NBA championship contender, inspired NBC Sports’ Chairman Dick Ebersol to call Croce “the architect of one of the NBA’s greatest turnaround stories.”

The entrepreneurial bug bit again when Croce pursued his passion for pirates by building the world’s first authentic pirate museum – Pirate Soul – in Key West, Florida. The museum has received rave reviews from media and press around the globe. The piratical complex was completed when Croce opened the Rum Barrel restaurant/bar next door.

Croce has also tackled television in his high-energy roles as a lively commentator on the NBA on NBC; a Tae Kwon Do expert for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Greece; the host of a nationally syndicated daily TV show, Pat Croce: Moving In, syndicated by Sony Pictures Television; and most recently as a panel judge on ABC’s hit show American Inventor.

Croce has been the proud recipient of the “Entrepreneur of the Year” Award, was a finalist (with Sports Physical Therapists) for the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award, and was featured on the cover of Inc magazine as “The Dale Carnegie of the 21st Century.” He continues to thrive as a serial entrepreneur, funding and launching companies in the fields of fitness, healthcare, spirits, technology, retail, real estate and entertainment.

This story has been reprinted with express permission. Copyright © 2001-2007 Pat Croce & Company – All rights reserved.

Our Thanks…
When I first read this story, I knew right away it would be a “slam dunk” with our members and visitors! It’s stories like this, that show just how powerful Kindness can be! We sincerely thank Pat Croce for allowing us to re-print the story here. His kindness will go a long, long way!

Technorati Tags: giving back, helping others, one kind act, one kind act a day, the power of kindness, good samaritan, pat croce

Kindness Is an Attitude and an Action

“Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give.”
~ Eleanor Roosevelt

As we move through our lives, we carry with us the accumulated experiences that mold our attitudes and our behavior. When we are young and inexperienced, we are often more vulnerable to being pulled in different directions by the events of life. One bad experience, in which our trust is betrayed, our generosity scorned, or our love rejected, can cause us to build unconscious defenses that have the unintended effect of isolating us, of making us fearful or tentative, and that can cause us to pull back from the world.

Later, as we grow in maturity and wisdom, we learn that although we cannot choose what life will deliver to us, we can choose how we will respond. As we begin to live our lives more consciously—going back and sifting through the events that helped shape us, examining how and why different emotions are triggered in our hearts—we can begin to build an entirely new framework for who we want to be, instead of simply accepting who we ended up being.

Through this deeper understanding of the events that have influenced our lives, of the values we hold most dear, and of the things we need to be happy, we can begin the exciting process of taking control of our lives. At the most fundamental level, this begins with the conscious choice of how we wish to be in the world. From that solid foundation, we can act freely and fearlessly, knowing that our actions will reflect our being out into the world.

The practices in this section focus on the intricate underpinnings of a strong foundation of kindness and will assist you in your exploration of how to release that kindness into the world through your actions.

Start Now

“I’ve decided to try to be a better person. . . . But not right away of course. . . . Maybe a few days from now.”
~ SALLY TO CHARLIE BROWN IN A PEANUTS CARTOON

“I spent four years ‘getting ready’ to start a diet. I’d get brochures for weight-control programs and look them over while eating a pastrami sandwich. I’d buy the latest diet books and read them with a bowl of chips. My losing weight was such a topic of conversation that finally—over a substantial lunch at my favorite Italian restaurant—my best friend got so exasperated she said, ‘If you really want to lose weight, then put that damn fork down right now!’ Shocked, I dropped the fork and just sat there with my mouth hanging open. When I closed my mouth, I realized I had started my diet.”

Most of us carry around an image of ourselves as we would like to be—a little thinner or stronger, more patient and reliable. But what we want to be means nothing until we stop intending and start acting.

Like dieting, when it comes to the practice of kindness, right now is the best time to begin. It doesn’t require much work or sacrifice—no giving up desserts, no one hundred leg lifts, no pushing a rock up a steep hill. Just a commitment, right here and now, to smile at the bank teller, give a kind word to the grocery checker. Let the driver in front of you cut in. Simple, really.

Remember What’s Important

“In the end, nothing we do or say in this lifetime will matter as much as the way we have loved one another.”
~DAPHNE ROSE KINGMA

In the hustle and bustle of our busy days, full of faxes, phone calls, and a thousand and one errands, it’s really easy to get caught up in the daily details and forget what’s important in life. Often it takes some kind of trauma—the death of a loved one, divorce, a life-threatening illness— to wake us up to what matters. After all, no one on his or her deathbed regretted not spending more time at the office.

Fortunately, we don’t have to be facing a personal tragedy to make our relationships our number one priority. No project, no deadline, no clean kitchen is as important as the quality of your relationship with the person sitting across from you at the breakfast table, as the child who needs your attention right this second, as the mother who is alone in the nursing home. Remembering what’s important gives us the graciousness to take the time, make the phone call, send the card, not say the bitter retort on the tip of our tongue. When we remember what’s important, we generate more loving kindness in our lives.

Take the Risk

“In the long run, we get no more than we have been willing to risk giving.”
~ SHELDON KOPP

“When I was in second grade, a new boy, Derrick showed up halfway through the year. He had a bad leg, and all the kids teased him. I never teased him, but I was afraid of being too nice to him because I didn’t want the other kids to think I was a sissy or whatever second-graders think.

“That summer my mom made me take swimming lessons at the city pool and Derrick was always there. He was a great swimmer, and I found out later that he swam every day to build up strength in his legs. One day during a break in lessons, I was sitting on the side of the pool and he swam up and said hi and thanked me for not teasing him at school. I said something like, ‘Oh, no big deal,’ but inside I felt like a jerk for being afraid to be friendly with him. Now I’m in fourth grade and Derrick is my best friend. In fact, he’s the best friend anyone could ever want.”

So many of us are so afraid of one another—of having our hearts crushed (again), our spirits broken—that we miss out on the love and connection that is available if we would only take the risk. Acts of love and kindness are risky—we risk looking foolish or being rejected; we risk being laughed at or ignored. But if we don’t act, we risk losing even more— the potential for love, for friendship, for communion with another soul. Today, take a risk with just one person.

Accent the Positive

“People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong. . . . Why not try and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom?”
~ THICH NHAT HANH

“I had one of those days when everything went wrong. It started when I was late for work, wound its way through a mountain of irritated customers, computer breakdowns, short-tempered colleagues, car trouble on the interstate which found me walking to a telephone in a drenching thunderstorm without my umbrella, and ended in a totally irrational and emotionally bruising fight with my husband.

“I ran out of the house, trying somehow to outrun all my problems, but the dark cloud just hung over me. As I walked through our neighborhood remembering all the bad things that had happened that day, the storm that had so rudely soaked me earlier began to clear. I came around a corner that overlooked a valley and was treated to one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen: The clouds had thinned to long, tailing wisps and were floating gracefully apart like some kind of celestial doorway, and the biggest full moon I had ever seen was slowly moving into view. I watched as the light from the moon passed like a hand over the valley, turning the entire rain—soaked valley into a kaleidoscope of reflected light. I just started laughing and crying at the same time. Here I was mired in my own little dirt clod and was being so magnificently reminded by the night sky that there was much more to life than what I was feeling in the moment.”

We are very clever at finding everything that is wrong. And once discovered, we get stuck, like a deer caught in the headlights, intensely focusing on it. In order to be kind to ourselves, we need to learn to see our problems in their real context-to open our eyes and hearts wide enough to drink in all the beauty and joy that is always around us, no matter what is going on.

“Don’t Let Fear Stand in Your Way. Do not be afraid.”
~ JESUS

Several decades ago, sociologist Pitirim Sorokin, who founded the Institute for Creative Altruism at Harvard, identified five obstacles to love: fear, stress, limitations, self-devaluation, and tribal altruism. Not surprisingly, they are also the obstacles to kindness.

When we are afraid, we contract—our muscles tighten, our vision narrows, we physically pull away. In other words, we retreat into a private world, cut off from human connection.

When we are stressed, we operate like an robot on the fritz—twitching physically and emotionally, obsessively focused on the narrow issues that are causing our stress, unable to see, much less reach out to, others. When we believe that we are limited, ineffectual, we seal ourselves in a cocoon of apathy. When we see ourselves as “not good enough,” we constantly re-create a lonely and self-limiting world.

The last obstacle to love and kindness is the most complex: tribal altruism—the sense that the small group is more important than the whole. Tribal altruism is the driving force behind racial conflict, religious intolerance, and war. It is also the dangerous halfway house we can become stuck in when practicing kindness.

When we first overcome our fear, stress, sense of limitation, and self-devaluation to extend kindness to others, we often start with what is near to us—our family, our “tribe,” our religious group, our local community, our nation. But if we stop there, we risk the danger of perpetuating greater harm to the whole of humanity in the name of love for our smaller group. It is only when we can move beyond all five obstacles, when we can see every man, woman, and child as a precious and indispensable part of humanity, that we bring the practice of kindness to its fruition.

What obstacles to kindness do you most often experience? Today, just notice what blocks the free flow of kindness in your own life.

Just Act

Where we’ve gotten mixed up is that we believe actions follow belief. But experience creates belief.
~ THE REVEREND CECIL WILLIAMS

“I’ve always thought of myself as a good person who wanted to do something to make a positive difference in the world. But for years I was paralyzed by the sheer scope of the world’s problems: they seemed so overwhelming to me. In the midst of my private despair, I happened to have lunch with a friend who mentioned that he had been volunteering at a local food project, and he asked if I would be interested in helping out occasionally. His request surprised me. I realized that I wanted to help, but at the same time it just seemed to be so futile. I asked him how he managed to keep his spirits up when the lines of hungry people kept growing.

“He smiled and said, ‘I have to confess, part of the reason I do this is because it is what keeps my spirits up. I can’t solve the problem of hunger in the world, but when I am working in that kitchen, knowing that every plate of food I prepare is going to feed someone who really needs it, I feel more alive, more like the man I want to be.”

It is so easy to get lost in the circular motion of our own thoughts that we forget that it is our actions that set everything— including our thoughts—in motion. Even the most insignificant-seeming action reverberates out into the world, setting off a continuously self-perpetuating chain reaction.

We don’t have to believe that what we are doing will have a significant impact or even make a tiny difference. All we need to do is act—to begin and watch what happens.

Book Description
A course in compassion from the creators of Random Acts of Kindness, Practice Random Acts of Kindness is a compilation of inspiring meditations, affirmations, and true stories collected from the growing number of “kindness experts” in the world. Contributors include Cecil Williams, Billy Graham, Rosalyn Carter, the Dalai Lama, presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton, and a once-homeless millionaire in Los Angeles whose life was transformed by an anonymous act of generosity.

Kindness is a revolution whose time has come and, while most people sincerely want to be more caring, Practice Random Acts of Kindness brings it all home with simple suggestions of how to be kinder and why. From the wake of Hurricane Katrina to the tragedy of the tsunami to troops in Iraq performing acts of daily compassion, we see many glimpses of what a more benevolent world might look like. In Practice Random Acts of Kindness, the editors who flamed the spark of kindness tell us exactly how we can create this future and effect REAL change through kindness. To get your copy you can click on the book cover or CLICK HERE..

Some of the world’s greatest leaders, authors, and speakers, already know the power of this concept.

I am sure you’ve heard the saying “Action speaks louder than words.”

You can think about making a difference all day long, or you can make a decision and do something about it! Once you decide you are well on your way to taking action. The decision is half the battle. Remember, “the ancestor to every action is a thought!”

We hope you enjoy this collection of quotes and the message they send, it makes you wonder, where would we be if we never heard of Gandhi, Emerson, or Helen Keller, just to name a few?

“Let us become the change we seek in this world.”
- Mohandas Gandhi

“The state of your life is nothing more than a reflection of your state of mind.”
- Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

“In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it.”
- Marianne Williamson

“A mind expanded by a new idea, never goes back the same form.”
- Victor Hugo

“For everything you have missed, you have gained something else; and for everything you gain, you lose something else.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.”
- Maya Angelou

“When we do the best that we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another.”
- Helen Keller

“Giving connects two people, the giver and the receiver, and this connection gives birth to a new sense of belonging.”
- Deepak Chopra

“I don’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones.”
- John Cage

Who is this?

Technorati Tags: One Kind Act a Day, Action speaks louder than words, Quotes to inspire