-- Positive Living --
As society becomes more conscious, more responsible and proactive - we are seeing a lot more volunteerism, donations, non-profit organizations, community groups, nature preserves, and much more. People care about the planet and realize they have the power, as an individual, to create positive change every single day. And, no, it doesn't take a lot of time necessarily. I mean, you don't have to dedicate every breath of energy to one cause or another. But to live more consciously does mean that we realize every moment brings us opportunities to help create the world we want.
Random acts of kindness is far from a new concept; there's nothing "new age" about it. It goes back much farther in history to our earliest recordings, and certain cultures embrace it as part of a mental health and spiritual cause. For instance, when a Jewish widow/widower is in mourning they go through a phase where they are supposed to do a large number of random acts of kindness. Buddhists tell us that giving of ourselves to others is the best way to climb out of depression, exhaustion, emotional impacts of anxiety and long term illness, for those facing death and more.
One of the easiest ways to start this is to celebrate people in our lives, one at a time. So as a project you might want to go through your business and personal address book, contact lists, networking lists, etc. Set a schedule for yourself to pop a note, text, private message, email or whatever off to each person - for instance you might set a goal of reaching out to 2 different people on your list every week until you have exhausted the lists of contacts that you have. A simple note saying you were thinking of them and the impact they had on your life... you can mention something specific or just write a brief sentence that is more generic. These notes can have a huge impact on the recipient.
You might then start a plan to compliment one person each day, in person - looking in their eyes and saying something nice. But mean it - mention how they helped you feel better when they smiled at you from across the room in a meeting.
You might decide to start posting a comment on anything you watch online that has a positive impact on you.
However, most important is to watch our communication. Are we tending to talk down to people? Are we leaving mean spirited comments? Are we responding out of anger? We can all disagree on any one topic but we must be respectful, kind, and try to understand another point of view even if we don't agree with it.
We might also decide to stand up against online bullying - such as writing the owner of a site when you see nasty comments from people that you want removed. It is helpful if you can get others to do the same.
Random acts of kindness is far from a new concept; there's nothing "new age" about it. It goes back much farther in history to our earliest recordings, and certain cultures embrace it as part of a mental health and spiritual cause. For instance, when a Jewish widow/widower is in mourning they go through a phase where they are supposed to do a large number of random acts of kindness. Buddhists tell us that giving of ourselves to others is the best way to climb out of depression, exhaustion, emotional impacts of anxiety and long term illness, for those facing death and more.
One of the easiest ways to start this is to celebrate people in our lives, one at a time. So as a project you might want to go through your business and personal address book, contact lists, networking lists, etc. Set a schedule for yourself to pop a note, text, private message, email or whatever off to each person - for instance you might set a goal of reaching out to 2 different people on your list every week until you have exhausted the lists of contacts that you have. A simple note saying you were thinking of them and the impact they had on your life... you can mention something specific or just write a brief sentence that is more generic. These notes can have a huge impact on the recipient.
You might then start a plan to compliment one person each day, in person - looking in their eyes and saying something nice. But mean it - mention how they helped you feel better when they smiled at you from across the room in a meeting.
You might decide to start posting a comment on anything you watch online that has a positive impact on you.
However, most important is to watch our communication. Are we tending to talk down to people? Are we leaving mean spirited comments? Are we responding out of anger? We can all disagree on any one topic but we must be respectful, kind, and try to understand another point of view even if we don't agree with it.
We might also decide to stand up against online bullying - such as writing the owner of a site when you see nasty comments from people that you want removed. It is helpful if you can get others to do the same.
Comments
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comment!
http://www.twitter.com/brummet
http://www.facebook.com/lillian.brummet
http://www.linkedin.com/in/ldbrummet