Just Kidding

You are a great and powerful human being!

Use your powers for good and you will be rewarded!

     How you interact with people is the single most important way to spread kindness.  The way you treat other people and the things you say carry weight to them.  When you choose your words and actions carefully it will make a difference in other peoples lives and the way they respond to you!  We never know the impact that our words and actions have on another person or how they view us.  How do you want to be thought of by others?  Do you want to be thought of as a happy uplifting person?  Do people enjoy your company? Do they request your presence? Or do you find yourself not being invited or talked to?
     Everyone knows "that guy" or "that girl" the one that one that is always just kidding. The person who comes around many times uninvited who shows up and greets you with an insult that is supposed to be "funny" but never is.  That person can be just as powerful as a kind person and in some cases more powerful. When they walk into a room the energy changes. People get on defensive they start looking over their shoulder and hoping subconsciously that they are not going to be attacked by that persons insults next.  In most cases people fear the insults so much that they take the preemptive strike and they deliver the insult first which only fuels the fire for that person and lets them think that their just kidding attack is funny and acceptable.  Then it becomes contagious and everyone starts making fun of one another. The impact that this person has on others is destructive. Even though it's understood that they are "just kidding," their words carry weight and a destructive force. The things they say affect people on a conscious and subconscious level. It affects their self esteem and makes them feel bad. Usually the person delivering the insults doesn't realize this so they continue to do it because they think it's funny and that others enjoy it.
     Then there is the opposite person; the one who gets invited to every thing. The one who puts a smile on peoples faces even before they say anything. The one who lifts and brightens every room they enter with they enter with their positive attitude and their kind words. This person always seems to have good luck and good fortune but more importantly, they are truly powerful people. This person empowers people with encouraging words and compliments, they make others feel good and raise their self esteem.  These people are always talked about in the highest regard long before they arrive somewhere and long after they leave.  The words and kind acts carry weight too and many times have a long lasting effect that goes on to affect others in a positive way.  People remember the good feeling and the good vibes that come from this person and they want to be like this person.
     Who do you want to be? The first person I described or the second?
     You can change any time you want. If you change for the good, I believe you will enjoy the benefits of that so much more that you will never change back.  It's easy to make the change to being a kind person, simply just smiling every time you see someone and paying them a genuine compliment is a great start.  They may not know how to take you at first and they may be waiting for "the punch line" or the insult, but once they know your sincere they will come around and begin to enjoy you and your company!
     How do I know?
     I used to be "that guy" and I saw the negative impact that my words and actions had on others so I decided to make the change and it has been one of the best things I have ever done. Not only do I uplift and empower others but I improve my own self esteem in the process. This change for me is what eventually lead me to create the Kindness Initiative Network and this blog.  I LOVE being kind so much more and seeing the difference that it makes for others that it's my favorite thing to do!  If you're "that guy or that girl" or you know that person, share this article with them and if they get mad or offended, tell them you are Just Kidding!
     Thanks for reading and remember were not here for along time were here for a good time so be kind to each other!

It's working

Build it and they will come ~ Bull Durham

The movement has begun and just like a freight train when it leaves the station someone pulls a small block from in front of the wheels and the big heavy train starts moving.  The train moves very slowly at first but with each revolution of the wheels the speed seems to double until soon the train is moving at full speed. It takes almost as long and more energy to stop a train at full speed than it takes to get it moving.
The point to this illustration is show that once a movement has begun you don't want to stop it but more importantly if you were going to catch the train it's much easier to do it in the beginning than it is when it's at full speed.
I started by making a weekly practice at being kind, spreading kindness,and doing good deeds just on Facebook. Then with blogging, then with Twitter, and Google+, then with a podcast.  At first only on the weekends, then talking about kindness, during the week then, doing good deeds and spreading kindness during the week, until now I'm talking about it and doing something about kindness daily it has become a part of my life and a part of me. At first I could see the happiness and joy that I was bringing to to the people around me.  I could see the differences that I was making in those lives and that was fun, exciting and addictive. The more I spread kindness the more I want to spread it and just like last weeks post the more I look for kindness the more I find.
I have taken notice of kindness just recently on a much larger scale but more amazingly then finding it on my own it's been shared with me by different and sometimes unexpected people. I don't think that I directly inspired the kindnesses that they shared but I do think that just by having the thoughts, feeling and intentions out into the universe that other AMAZING people picked up on the energy and vibration. Those people do and think of AWESOME things and ways to inspire and spread kindness. More importantly I'm surprised by some of the people who shared these links with me it lets me know that kindness is on their radar!
I can now see, hear and feel kindness a little more every day where ever I go this makes me happy and lets me know that it's working! Here are some of the links to kindness that were shared with me this week I know you will enjoy them!
One girl,89 random acts of kindness
Pink stops concert for crying girl!
This one shared by my 15 yr old son call a good guy compilation
Enjoy the links and as always thank you for reading and remember we are not here for a long time we are here for a good time so be kind to each other!

What goes around comes around

Good or bad if you put it out there it will come back to you!

Thoughts are things and actions are reality, make them count!

Everyone has good days and bad days how you choose to react to those days is up to you.  It’s very easy to let a bad day or an unsavory action or event ruin your day but you make the choice to let it affect your being.  I make a practice of monitoring my thoughts and actions so that they are in line with desirable and savory actions and activities in my life. I also make a practice of spreading kindness.  Even I get off track and lose my focus sometimes but because of my practices I am fortunate to have AWESOME people in my life  who help me change my mind, get me re-focused and back on track.

This last week I came down with the flu and some other things happened that made me upset. I started to get very down on myself and I shared my frustrations with a few people in my life. As the week wore on I was contacted by more and more people to support me me and lift me and my spirit back up. I was so grateful that all of these people with their kind words and positive energy were able to help me and brighten my day and my week. They pulled me out of the low, the sickness and the funk so that I can continue my mission of spreading kindness and good deeds. To all of those people I say thank you!

This is one small example of how this works. I know that there are many more because I see, hear, and read about it every day.  I challenge you to make a practice of monitoring your thoughts and actions to see what happens.  Be sure to change your focus from negative, sick, bad, and unsavory, to positive, desirable, healthy, and savory, and then share your experiences with me. I love to read about how people change their minds, lives and behaviors for the better!

Thanks for reading and remember were not here for a long time were here for a good time so be kind to each other!

Gratitude Stone

Why is it so hard to keep being grateful on my mind is it hard for you too?  I have so many things to be grateful for and being grateful is one of the most important things in my life. When I first learned of the power of being grateful I decided to do something to help me keep it in the front of my mind.  I had just dug my self out of a big financial mess and started to turn my luck around with a new job and some unexpected income that helped my pay for the new house that I now live in.  After living here for about a week and still feeling the overwhelming sense of gratitude for all of my good fortune I wanted a way to keep that feeling alive so I picked up a small rock out of my new driveway and put it in my pocket and called it my gratitude stone!
I would keep the rock in my pocket every day and  when I would empty my pockets at night or change my clothes I would hold onto the rock for an extra second and remember all the things I’m grateful for.  When I would get mad or frustrated with the way my day was going or I was letting other people control my behavior and make me angry then the rock would poke me in the leg and remind me to be grateful.   This was a very affective tool for keeping me on track with having a positive attitude and reminding me to be grateful.
There were a few days when I forgot to put the rock in my pocket and just remembering that I had forgotten it would help carry the energy of being grateful through the day. Then there were some times that I forgot to take it out of my pocket and it would end up in the wash and would be lost for days or weeks.  The rock became less important I would tell myself that it was being grateful that was important and not the rock and over time I carried the rock with me less and less until I finally lost it altogether and now I still don’t know where it is.
I bet you have already guessed what I’m going to say next and you would be right. My ability to be grateful for all of the amazing and awesome things in my life diminished I would remember to be grateful less and less until I couldn’t see anything to be grateful for. Round after round of bad luck and misfortune headed my way.  I don’t understand why it should be so hard for me to remember all the thing that I have to be grateful for and to go around with a true felling of gratitude but it is.
I’m starting over I have kept being grateful in the front of my mind daily and the waves of misfortune have subsided even the good fortune, health and well being of the people around me has returned I plan to keep this going by replacing my old tool, my rock with a new one and giving this one even more positive energy than I gave the last one. If I some how manage to lose this one I will not delay in replacing it with another I suspect that when I get my new one that my old one will turn up.
A felling of true gratitude for all the things in my life and all of the things and people in the world is something I hold to the highest importance now because I have clearly demonstrated to my self that it is one of the most powerful forces in my life. I don’t really know why it works I just know that it does and for me that’s good enough I don’t always need to know why something works if I cans see and feel that it does!
Thank you for reading I’m grateful that you took the time to read this!