It is naïve to think there is never a time when force will be required or when legitimate power has to exert itself. Parents do have to use their authority in order to civilize and nurture unruly adolescents. Bosses sometimes have to fire people who are working against the company’s policies and best interests.

Generally speaking, however, the power of human kindness is a superior form of power to brute force. An attempt to lead by persuasion should always go before the last-ditch requirement of confrontation and pulling rank.

Gail Halvorsen was taught these ideas about kindness, service to others, and the like back in Sunday School as a boy. Now a retired colonel of the U.S. Air Force, he never tires of telling about a situation where putting his convictions to work helped change the course of history. It helped turn an enemy into an ally.

Halvorsen was a pilot in Europe during and after World War II. In post-war Germany, he was on the ground in Berlin. Some of the many hungry children in the once-prosperous Germany that Adolf Hitler had reduced to penury flocked around him and his buddies to ask for food. They were hungry. They were begging for a scrap or bread or a handout from the soldiers’ rations.

Turn an enemy into a friend and heal an old wound!

Halvorsen didn’t have any food for the group of about 30 kids. He had two sticks of gum in his pocket. He handed them to a couple of the children — and had a bright idea. The next time he dropped food into the Soviet-blockaded area of Berlin, he dropped gum and candy out for the children as well. When word got back to his superiors of what he and now other pilots were doing, there was a chewing out for their “unauthorized activities.” But one general defended what the pilots were doing. He encouraged them to keep it up. And soon American candy companies were providing chocolate bars and chewing gum by the tons.

As Halvorsen puts it, “It wasn’t the chocolate. It was hope!” Little children and their beleaguered parents were encouraged to believe that things would someday be better for them. Historians of the period have credited the candy drops for helping change the attitudes of the German people toward their recent enemies in war. The same non-government program is also credited with altering American attitudes toward the German people.

Maybe there are children for you to help in your neighborhood, through your company’s involvement in the larger community, or in some ministry of your church. Maybe the people to think about aren’t even children. Maybe there is just someone who needs an act of positive kindness that you can provide. There are certainly no guaranteed outcomes, but it probably won’t do harm to be gracious.

It could even turn an enemy into a friend or heal an old wound. Sweet!

I myself have gained much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because your kindness has so often refreshed the hearts of God’s people (Philemon 1:7 NLT).

This article has been re-printed with permission. It first appeared at www.heartlight.org. Heartlight exists to provide resources for positive Christian living in today’s world.

One Kind Act Calls for Submissions

One Kind Act is now accepting submissions for its first anthology. One Kind Act is a social movement aimed at making lives happier and more fulfilling while making the world a better place … One Kind Act at a time.

Life is all about interacting. We forget that as we speed past other people in shiny boxes on the highway, or buy our morning coffee from a stranger in a window, or pump gas next to five other people never lifting our heads to see who they are.

But when we choose to notice the people around us and we act with kindness, we cause a chain reaction. A smile in the grocery store. An open door for a mother struggling with a baby carriage. A double batch of soup so there is extra for a neighbor. When we give and receive these gifts, we realize it really is the small things that matter.

We at One Kind Act have heard a lot of your stories and now we want to anthologize them to inspire and motivate others. We are looking for stories of both givers and recipients of Kind Acts. They may be with strangers, family members, or friends in private or professional settings. Don’t think your story isn’t what we’re looking for. If a Kind Act popped into your head, send it to us. And tell your friends. The more diverse, the merrier.

Guidelines

• Nonfiction stories and essays can be between 200 – 2000 words in length.
• Please submit your stories electronically as an attachment (word or pdf format) or in the body of your email to stories@onekindact.com. Subject line: “Anthology.”
• You may submit anonymously. However, if you would like to be credited, please include you name, city, state, country, age, profession, or any other pertinent details you would like us to include. Limit is a 65-70 word bio. Inclusions of web address will be considered.

Other Details

• You retain all rights to your work. We just need one-time and electronic reprint rights.
• Will reserve the right to edit your story for consistency, grammar, and spelling.
• You may submit as many stories as you like for consideration. Please send individual submissions separately.
• Deadline for submissions is midnight February 12, 2010. You will be informed by the end of February if your story will be included in the anthology.
• Publication is anticipated mid 2010.

Stay up-to-date about the anthology’s progress at: www.onekindact.com

The Bottom Line
Publishing this anthology is a labor of love for One Kind Act. Hence, we can not pay for contributions. However we will actively promote the anthology and your writing.

*A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the book will go to fund One Kind Act.Com to keep the website up and running, as well as,  funding  random acts of kindness.

Thank you for considering a submission.

About the Editors

Matthew Costello is an e-commerce guru and CEO of Web Marketing Advisors, a strategic marketing and business development firm. Matthew is also the founder of One Kind Act, a social movement designed to change the world by motivating others to leap in and really live, just One Kind Act at a time. He is dedicated to helping people focus on kindness and energize their lives. In addition to One Kind Act.Com, he also owns and operates The Winning Attitude.com, a site dedicated to motivation, inspiration, and more.

Julie Luongo is the author of The Hard Way (Forge, 2008), her debut novel, which was met with unanimous critical praise. She holds a Master’s degree in Creative Writing from Temple University and a Bachelor’s from Penn State in Advertising. She is a former writing instructor, editor, and playwright. She always thanks cashiers; waves people through in traffic, and sometimes even smiles at strangers. In addition Julie played a large role in the creation of One Kind Act.Com and continues to do so.

*Reprint Notice:
Permission to reprint or redistribute altered or excerpted material from this post is allowed only if you do the following:

• Include, all links, bio’s and credits.
  or
• Provide a direct link back to the post, and email us, to let us know about the link.

Copyright© 2009 ONE KIND ACT.COM. All Rights Reserved.

Random acts of kindness are a wonderful way to reach across time and space to touch the life of another being. Publicizing and raising awareness of the significance of human kindness undoubtedly makes the world a better place. At every step along the path of expanding awareness there is the opportunity to go deeper; to explore more of the potential of our divine humanness. So it is with kindness. Acts of kindness are really not difficult. An intention is formed, and you carry it out. It makes you feel good. Holding kindness and compassion in our hearts, and integrating them into the complexity and stresses of daily life, every day — now there is a deep challenge!

Parents can learn to discipline kindly, remaining firm, yet doing so with love and warmth. Teachers can learn to remain patient and forgiving, no matter how frustrated they might feel with a particular student. Employees can choose to cooperate and remain positive about employers, rather than going into polarity. They can preserve their integrity, leaving the job if they must. Employers can honor the individuality and dignity of each staff member, placing the significance of the human over the material. Men and women can choose to focus on what is beautiful and special about the opposite sex, rather than battling for superiority. Children can learn to let everyone play, rather than setting up exclusive games. We can all begin to celebrate adolescence and help teens to feel proud of themselves, rather than raising our eyebrows in disgust. Teenagers can learn to be patient with and accepting of adults in spite of our limitations, instead of raising their eyebrows in disgust. Drivers can realize that there is enough road to share, and time to get there.

Allowing a spirit of kindness to permeate our collective lives would be a quantum leap, from an evolutionary standpoint. Eliminating meanness, pettiness, gossip, criticism, judgment, polarity, and blame would be a superb act of kindness. It is also a fundamental step along any spiritual path. Those negative qualities reflect a very dense, heavy energy, vested solidly in ego, and they block the light of the spirit. Random acts of kindness amidst the darker energies are certainly a positive start. We can do more. Much more. We can resolve to be kinder, gentler beings. All day, every day. We can treat those closest to us with the same respect and politeness that we reserve for friends and colleagues. We can refuse to litter the lives of others with negative energy. If we do this, we will be doing our part to create a world in which kindness is never a random act, but rather a way of life.

About the Author:
Gwen Randall-Young is a psychotherapist who bridges the worlds of psychology and spirituality, and the author of several books and audio tapes. grandall@telusplanet.net

It is naïve to think there is never a time when force will be required or when legitimate power has to exert itself. Parents do have to use their authority in order to civilize and nurture unruly adolescents. Bosses sometimes have to fire people who are working against the company’s policies and best interests.

Generally speaking, however, the power of human kindness is a superior form of power to brute force. An attempt to lead by persuasion should always go before the last-ditch requirement of confrontation and pulling rank.

Gail Halvorsen was taught these ideas about kindness, service to others, and the like back in Sunday School as a boy. Now a retired colonel of the U.S. Air Force, he never tires of telling about a situation where putting his convictions to work helped change the course of history. It helped turn an enemy into an ally.

Halvorsen was a pilot in Europe during and after World War II. In post-war Germany, he was on the ground in Berlin. Some of the many hungry children in the once-prosperous Germany that Adolf Hitler had reduced to penury flocked around him and his buddies to ask for food. They were hungry. They were begging for a scrap or bread or a handout from the soldiers’ rations.

Turn an enemy into a friend and heal an old wound!

Halvorsen didn’t have any food for the group of about 30 kids. He had two sticks of gum in his pocket. He handed them to a couple of the children — and had a bright idea. The next time he dropped food into the Soviet-blockaded area of Berlin, he dropped gum and candy out for the children as well. When word got back to his superiors of what he and now other pilots were doing, there was a chewing out for their “unauthorized activities.” But one general defended what the pilots were doing. He encouraged them to keep it up. And soon American candy companies were providing chocolate bars and chewing gum by the tons.

As Halvorsen puts it, “It wasn’t the chocolate. It was hope!” Little children and their beleaguered parents were encouraged to believe that things would someday be better for them. Historians of the period have credited the candy drops for helping change the attitudes of the German people toward their recent enemies in war. The same non-government program is also credited with altering American attitudes toward the German people.

Maybe there are children for you to help in your neighborhood, through your company’s involvement in the larger community, or in some ministry of your church. Maybe the people to think about aren’t even children. Maybe there is just someone who needs an act of positive kindness that you can provide. There are certainly no guaranteed outcomes, but it probably won’t do harm to be gracious.

It could even turn an enemy into a friend or heal an old wound. Sweet!

I myself have gained much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because your kindness has so often refreshed the hearts of God’s people (Philemon 1:7 NLT).

© 2008 Used by permission. From Rubel Shelly’s “FAX of Life” printed each Tuesday. See Faith Matters for previous issues of the “FAX of Life.”

Title: “The Power of Human Kindness”
Author: Rubel Shelly
Publication Date: August 02, 2008

We love stories of both givers and recipients of Kind Acts. They may be with strangers, family members, or friends in private or professional settings. Don’t think your story isn’t what we’re looking for. If a Kind Act popped into your head, send it to us. And tell your friends. The more diverse, the merrier.

Also, we are compiling an anthology of stories to inspire and motivate others. So, if you share a story, it just might make it into our book!

Thank you,

Your Friends at One Kind Act.com

Please submit your stories electronically as an attachment (.word or .pdf format) or in the body of your email to stories@onekindact.com. Subject line: “Anthology.”

Acts of kindness and generosity come in many different forms: Giving food to a hungry stranger, donating one’s time to aid homeless people or helping a fellow tenant make the rent. But it’s their ability to touch us and stick in our memories that makes sometimes even small gestures a powerful and lasting force in our lives.

Couple years ago, NPR invited listeners to share stories about “good deeds” they had witnessed or heard about. The original audio program highlighted some of the stories, but there were many more that couldn’t be fit into the short time slot. Below are some of those gems:

After the Storm
Beverly Jordan witnessed an extraordinary act of generosity after Hurricane Andrew slammed into South Florida in 1992, leaving a wide path of destruction in its path. Jordan, a nurse, volunteered to go door to door in Miami delivering emergency relief.

Her relief van pulled up to a house that was nothing but a shell. She asked the young owners if they needed anything. “They said, ‘No, but can you wait a minute here?’ They came back out with a case of diapers and four or five bags of food and said, ‘Would you please give this to somebody who needs it worse than we do?’”

Jordan says she never got the couple’s name and wishes that she could thank them for their generosity.

The Most Memorable Christmas
Amy Scharman of Mapleton, Utah, remembered the Christmas after her parents divorced. Her mother was raising 13 kids with no child support. The holiday was looking pretty grim.

“It was about dusk on Christmas Eve and we heard a knock on the back door,” Scharman says. When they opened it, no one was there. But someone had left 10 big bags filled with presents for the children, including clothes and toys.

“It was such an overwhelming feeling to see such generosity from I don’t even know who it was,” she says. Ten years later, Scharman and her family still don’t know who did that good deed. Amy Scharman ends her note, “If you’re out there, thank you for making that Christmas the most memorable of all.”

A Mother’s Good Example
Sometimes witnessing a good deed leaves a lasting impression. Donna Delfino Dugay of Harper Woods, Mich., remembers a day in California when she was 11 years old, and her parents took their six children for a special day at the beach. Donna’s mother brought a picnic lunch — fried chicken and her famous potato salad — and prepared a plate for each of them.

“When I looked up from my plate, my mother was fixing one more plate… She turned away from us and walked over maybe 20 or 30 feet to where there was a man by himself. And he was picking his way through the trashcan. And my mother — I don’t know whether she just put the plate there or whether she touched him gently or whether she said a few words — but I remember him turning to her in a gesture of thankfulness.”

Dugay’s mother came back and sat down at the table. “Years later, Dugay asked her mother if she remembered the incident. “She laughed and said, ‘Not at all.’ But for me, I remember it very well because for me, it was the touchstone for what good deeds became in my life.”

Never Too Young to Help
Many listeners wrote of the generosity of very young people, Stamberg reports. Four-year-old Justin Dingman took the hand of a frightened fellow pre-schooler, serving as the welcoming committee on the boy’s first day at school. Liadan Susoeff, 7, took books to a shelter in Pittsburgh at holiday time and read to the children there. Eight-year-old Luke O’Neill took one of his own coats to school so a less fortunate classmate could go outside at recess.

‘A King’s Ransom’
Peter Strupp of Boston remembers being “flat broke” his senior year at the University of Wisconsin. When he could no longer afford the rent at his fraternity, he found refuge in a campus Christian fellowship house.

Strupp would sneak into the kitchen to take food bought by his fellow tenants. “Inevitably the month came that I couldn’t make the rent…

“The night before I was going to tell my housemates I was leaving, one of them stopped me in the kitchen. We were alone… He reached into his pocket and handed me a month’s rent, in cash. Before I could say anything, he said, ‘Don’t pay me back.’ Though the rent was less than $100, Strupp writes, “in a dark hour, it was a king’s ransom.”

Kindness in Passing
A simple act of kindness on a hot day nearly 50 years ago left a lasting memory for Dan Sullivan.

“There is hardly anything more boring than traveling in a military convoy,” Sullivan writes. “In late 1955, a deuce-and-a-half truck filled with a dozen GIs and I were crawling across northern Iowa. It was hot, even with the canvas sides rolled up. There were no stops for sodas, and the 30 thirsty miles per hour took us nowhere forever. One of the few entertainments was watching an occasional car pass, so when a convertible pulled in behind, we took notice — even more notice when the beautiful woman in the passenger seat waved and smiled. And oh, miracle, she reached back into a cooler and pulled out two bottles of ice-cold Royal Crown Cola, which she passed up to us as they went by. Wherever that woman is, I hope she sleeps well tonight.”

Giving at Work
David Hutmacher of Marietta, Ga., wrote of the generosity he received from co-workers when he became seriously ill three years ago. After three hospital stays, including two surgeries, he had used up all of his vacation and sick leave.

“It was the end of the year and my last paycheck at the first of December was for approximately 10 percent of its usual amount. I was worried it was fast approaching Christmas and I wouldn’t be going back to work until mid-January at the earliest. I am married and have two daughters who at that time were 8 and 5, respectively. My wife, who is a schoolteacher, was just barely keeping things together. I really didn’t think there would be much if any Christmas that year. So I was very surprised when on the 15th of December I received a paycheck. When I opened it there was not only a full pay period but also the pay I was missing from the previous check. I immediately called our comptroller for an explanation. It seems that all the employees had gotten together and donated any vacation that they had left for the year so I could get paid. I cried. It was truly a Good Deed.”

About The Post
This post has been re-printed from HelpOthers.org a fantastic website dedicated to helping others. You can read many more stories by visiting their website @ www.helpothers.org. Copyright 2009 – HelpOthers.org, All Rights Reserved

Technorati Tags: be kind, daily acts of kindness, Helping Others, kindness, one kind act, random acts of kindness, small acts of kindness

What you may not realize is when you extend human kindness to one person it will flow onto another then another like the ripples in a pond. Gathering energy as it goes. The truth is you may never know how many peoples lives were changed by an encouraging word you may have spoken or a generous act you may have performed or the silent prayer for healing you may have uttered. What you have to hold onto is these things do change lives in small ways that lead to great things. Are you going to get a big pat on the back probably not, are you going to be front page news unlikely, will your ego get stroked by your peers doubtful.

So why do it? Firstly because the ripple of kindness will eventually find it’s way back to you in some form. Secondly the act of giving is a gift to the giver. When you give of yourself you are wrapped in a divine joy so great it can hardly be contained.

The greatest moments of my life have been when someone has said to me,you have touched my life thank you,or you have given me the strength to keep going sometimes these things are spoken verbally sometimes they are just a look. But always they are a gift back to me.

Coming from a dysfunctional family background I cannot begin to tell you how important my friends encouraging words,support and love have meant to me and the way my journey has developed. Simple things like a hand on my arm and a look in the eyes which says it’s going to be okay? or a hug that says we are here for you or when people take the time out to listen to me unconditionally or the warmth of a smile in my direction. Small things done with great love which have lifted me on more than one occasion from the darkest hour.

Every word,thought and deed makes a difference every pebble of loving intent dropped into the universe creates a ripple of kindness that gets bigger and bigger with every person who is touched by it.

I stop and listen to a stranger at the bus stop give them nothing more than my time and the knowledge someone cares enough to be there in the moment for them. This stranger goes home and instead of pouring out a drink plays with his children. The children instead of acting out to get attention go away and play. Their mother rather than getting frustrated and screaming at them gets to sit with her husband and discuss his day. Maybe this is a turning point in their relationship or at least a step. I will probably never meet this stranger again and might never know what happened.

But every word,thought and deed I place into the universe comes the knowing a little ripple has begun. Where it ends or what path it will take is irrelevant because I know it will eventually find it’s way back to me. Whether you think of it this way or look at it as planted soul seeds of growth and understanding doesn?t matter.The thing is to remember the intent of the giver is more important than the size of the gift.

Today I will give an encouraging word, send a prayer of good wishes and touch someone just to let them know I care.

Australain adopted Canadian Psychic/Medium Creating futures changing lives

Random acts of kindness are a wonderful way to reach across time and space to touch the life of another being. Publicizing and raising awareness of the significance of human kindness undoubtedly makes the world a better place. At every step along the path of expanding awareness there is the opportunity to go deeper; to explore more of the potential of our divine humanness. So it is with kindness. Acts of kindness are really not difficult. An intention is formed, and you carry it out. It makes you feel good. Holding kindness and compassion in our hearts, and integrating them into the complexity and stresses of daily life, every day — now there is a deep challenge!

Parents can learn to discipline kindly, remaining firm, yet doing so with love and warmth. Teachers can learn to remain patient and forgiving, no matter how frustrated they might feel with a particular student. Employees can choose to cooperate and remain positive about employers, rather than going into polarity. They can preserve their integrity, leaving the job if they must. Employers can honor the individuality and dignity of each staff member, placing the significance of the human over the material. Men and women can choose to focus on what is beautiful and special about the opposite sex, rather than battling for superiority. Children can learn to let everyone play, rather than setting up exclusive games. We can all begin to celebrate adolescence and help teens to feel proud of themselves, rather than raising our eyebrows in disgust. Teenagers can learn to be patient with and accepting of adults in spite of our limitations, instead of raising their eyebrows in disgust. Drivers can realize that there is enough road to share, and time to get there.

Allowing a spirit of kindness to permeate our collective lives would be a quantum leap, from an evolutionary standpoint. Eliminating meanness, pettiness, gossip, criticism, judgement, polarity, and blame would be a superb act of kindness. It is also a fundamental step along any spiritual path. Those negative qualities reflect a very dense, heavy energy, vested solidly in ego, and they block the light of the spirit. Random acts of kindness amidst the darker energies are certainly a positive start. We can do more. Much more. We can resolve to be kinder, gentler beings. All day, every day. We can treat those closest to us with the same respect and politeness that we reserve for friends and colleagues. We can refuse to litter the lives of others with negative energy. If we do this, we will be doing our part to create a world in which kindness is never a random act, but rather a way of life.

Gwen Randall-Young is a psychotherapist who bridges the worlds of psychology and spirituality, and the author of several books and audio tapes. grandall@telusplanet.net You can also visit her website at http://www.intouchmag.com/33kindnessstories2.html Copyright © 1998 by Rebecca Ryan Resources