Today is Monday. It is a tough day for a lot of people. One of the best things we can do is be kind to them. How can you be kind to someone today? Let’s share all the ways in which we can show love and generosity to others?
Have you ever heard of Johnny Appleseed? This may surprise many of you, but he was a real person. His name was John Chapman. He was an American nurseryman. Meaning he looked after young plants, not young humans. He was famous for introducing large parts of North America to trees grown from apple seeds. He was a very successful business man who ended up owning over 1200 acres of land by the time of his death. He shared his knowledge and seeds with many different people. He would plant a nursery, move on and come back a few years later to check on it. Cute story, but what does that have to do with living an amazing life?
We can be our own Johnny (Or Janie) Appleseed. What we can do is spread seeds of inspiration, hope and empowerment. I use the example of Johnny Appleseed, and planting seeds in general for 2 very important reasons. First, we must keep in mind no matter how pure our intentions, we should not try to change other people. Planting a seed is just that. You give them the opportunity to let it grow within themselves. What they do with it is their responsibility. They can water or fertilize it, or they can let it die. All of that is up to them. We must keep this perspective to help us from becoming disillusioned when our efforts to help someone improve their life do not seem to be working. We are planting a seed. Different seeds grow at different rates. It has a lot to do with both the seed itself, as well as the environment. The same can be said with the seed of self-improvement, encouragement or whatever else you are planting.
That leads us to our second reason for using this metaphor. You may want to stop by after some time and see how the seed you planted is coming along. If it does not seem to be blossoming, there may be several reasons. It may be growing slowly. It could use some extra help, or just some extra time. Maybe it did not take root at all? You may need to plant some more seeds or find more fertile ground. Just remember, the more seeds you plant, the more likely they are to grow. Spread the seeds of love, kindness and compassion wherever you go. You could even wear a pot on your head like Johnny Appleseed if you think it would help.
Have you ever given much thought about how you make others feel? It is my mission in life to leave the world a better place than I found it. When Margie and I DJ together, I tell her my three goals with everyone who walks in the door is to have them laugh, feel a little bit better about themselves then when they walked in. If it is a couple, I want them to be just that little more in love with each other when they leave us. To me, making someone feel good is one of the best rewards in life. How about you?
In a world where it seems everyone is trying to be heard, how many of us are listening to each other? Sarcasm seems to be the order of the day. People try to get a laugh, often at the expense of other people’s feelings. Many people lack the basic refinement skills. Do you consider how what you are going to say may affect another person? If you do, is it to uplift, empower and encourage them? Can you imagine if we all made that our goal? Today, think of how your conversation will affect those you share it with. Do your best to lighten the load of all of those you encounter. I would love to hear a story about how someone made your day!
You may be tempted to dismiss today’s post. That would be a huge mistake. In the photo above lays the secret to changing the world. Yes, those little acts of kindness will change the world. I have written several times about the difference some of these acts can make. Think of the shopping cart example. How can returning one shopping cart make a difference? Considering how much danger the ignorant and lazy souls who leave their carts in the middle of the parking lot cause, the difference can be substantial. Even just returning your cart adds up. If you shop once a week, that is 52 carts a year. If you live with a baker like I do, it could be 3 times a week which is 156 carts a year. That is roughly how many carts a grocery store has.
We have written about picking up trash before. Once piece of trash a day makes for 365 pieces a year! If you don’t think that makes a difference, put 365 pieces of garbage in your living room and see how it looks. If you and your best friend do these things, that is 730 pieces of trash! What a cleaner community you would have! Trash and shopping carts are one thing, but people are entirely a different matter. We have discussed how to improve our world with small changes, now let us look at a more direct course of action.
The first suggestion is to tip your server. Tipping these days has become a little over the top. There seems to be an ‘opportunity’ to tip everywhere. It makes me glad there are no longer men’s room attendants. It is just one of a million ways to show small acts of kindness to people. The holiday season is stressful for a lot of people. Especially those in retail. This only creates a great opportunity to show a little kindness. It is also the time that our kindness means the most and will have the greatest impact. Thinking showing kindness to just one person wouldn’t make a difference? It reminds me of the starfish story we wrote about some time ago. In case you did not read that post, or just do not remember the details, the story can be found below.
This holiday season practice as many acts of kindness you can. It is not only a great gift for the world and for others, but it will be a great gift for your own soul. Share any ideas you may have for acts of kindness we can engage in this holiday season.
Despite what many of you might have guessed by this post’s title, it is not some sensual endeavor I have tried with Margie. Some people think it is about the tongue being the most powerful muscle in the body. It is not. That is actually the jaw muscle. What this quote from the Bible tells us, is that we have a power that we can literally save or end lives with. It is a power that can propel us forward or hold us back. This power can start revolutions and war, or it can make someone fall in love with us. The surprising thing about this power is that we all have it. The crazy thing is that most of us use it without much thought. Some even use it with no thought at all. Can you imagine how dangerous it would be to use something so powerful with such indiscretion?
The power that we are talking about, and the power in this quote, is that of the words we choose. Think of the strangers we encounter throughout the day. We can only judge their mood by their outward appearance. As we have seen all to often, a smile can hide a world of pain. Perhaps that lady taking our order at the coffee shop is thinking of taking her own life. What difference do you think a genuine compliment can make? What if we scream at her for ten minutes because we got 5 ice cubes instead of 4? We could move her further away from the edge or push her over. We may never know. Speeches throughout history have inspired wars and people to rise up in revolution. A poem or a well thought out card can swoon the person of our dreams. Even a heart-warming text can transform someone’s day.
Each one of us have tremendous power in the words we speak. Even our inner-dialogue can go a long way to defining our self-image. We must take control of this great power we have and use it for good. How do you use the power of your words for good?
In a world that often seeks 15 minutes of fame, there is nothing better than to be universally well thought of. How can you do that when everyone speaks a different language? Everyone has different realities and experiences. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a language that everyone here could easily understand?
Great news! There is! It is called kindness. I don’t care what country you are from, or what dialect you speak, do a kind act and you will be well regarded. Doing selfless and kind acts is something that everyone can understand. Better yet, it is something everyone can do!
On the surface, this seems like a no brainer. Yet, how easy is this to understand in the heat of the moment? When a customer is screaming at us for giving them the wrong flavor coffee. When are coworker snaps at us for no particular reason. When our spouse seems to be angry with every little thing we do. It is very difficult to pause and ask ourselves, “What are they hurting from?” It is true that only hurt people, hurt people. Considering this, anyone who hurts us is probably struggling with something themselves.
The first step would be to honestly ask ourselves if we had played any role in why they might be currently treating us harshly. If so, we should apologize and follow that with some sort of corrective action. If not, consider that they may be hurting inside and for some reason be emotionally ignorant on how to constructively express themselves. This certainly does not excuse their behavior, but it may help us approach it with a little more compassion.
Why should we even care that they are struggling, when they may be doing their best to put us in the same state? Understanding this will allow us to take their actions a lot less personally. This means we will feel less stressed and hurt. This can only be a good thing for us.
Another time to remember that we all struggle is when we are tempted to treat someone harshly. The classic example of someone cutting us off in traffic comes to mind. They may have been distracted, lost or just a jerk. What they also be is dealing with the loss of a loved one, a serious negative medical diagnosis, or a million other versions of suffering. Our negative reaction to their seemingly careless action could be the one to put them over the edge. I can’t count the times I have been lost in emotion and may not have been paying close enough attention to whatever it is I am doing. Someone acting harshly towards me at that moment would probably be the least helpful thing that could happen.
One of the best examples I can recall comes from the author, Stephen Covey. He was on a subway, and there was a father who seemed to be letting his children run wild without a care in the world. Finally, unable to take it anymore, Stephen said to the man, “Don’t you think you should do something about your children?” At this moment, I am sure he was feeling frustrated, angry, and perhaps some other unpleasant emotions. We would think rightfully so. The man looked at him with a hollow expression and replied, “You are right. Their mother just passed away, and they are not really sure how to act. In fact, neither am I.” What do you think Stephen felt then? The point is, none of us know what pains someone may be suffering. Be kind. It is always the right decision. Click the link below to check out my podcast, or just search “Living the Dream with Neil Panosian” on your favorite streaming platforms.
I know many well-meaning people with lofty goals. One of the most popular is that people want to change the world. This sounds like such a complicated and far-reaching goal. It is, but at the same time, it really isn’t. You do not have to end world hunger or cure a major disease to change the world. Being a great parent and raising children that are kind and respectful changes the world. Trying to uplift the spirits of those around you will change the world. These actions may seem trivial, but when you think of the outcomes long-term, and what the outcome would be if you took the opposite action, you realize how powerful they are.
My life’s mission is to leave the world a better place than I found it. This is not exactly a measurable goal. It is also one that never ends. The more actions I take to do so, the more likely it will be to come true. One think I have learned is the quote above. “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” You may think a compliment to a stranger wouldn’t make much of a difference, but you never know what that stranger is going through or what it means to them. I used the example of picking up one piece of trash. Does not seem like that would make much of a difference, but if every person in the world did that it would mean 8 billion pieces of trash were picked up! Even if 1 out of every 8 people did it, that would still mean 1 billion pieces of trash picked up. Again, if we consider the opposite action we can see the difference even more. Imagine if every person dropped one piece of trash on the ground. 8 billion pieces of trash littering our parks and sidewalks! Imagine the difference that makes.
Doing one small act of kindness a day may not seem like it would make a difference, but that adds up to 365 acts of kindness a year. None of those are wasted. It may not resonate with the person you do it for, but it could be seen by someone who then goes on to act kind towards someone else. Thus, creating a ripple effect. Maybe nobody sees your act of kindness. Maybe you pick up a piece of trash in the woods. It makes a difference to nature and increases the frequency of your vibration. In other words, helps you feel good. What small act of kindness could you do today? Remember, no act of kindness is ever wasted!
Many things confuse my simple brain. For example, why do people so often trash public restrooms? Do they suddenly fly into a fit of rage when relieving themselves? Personally, that is when I tend to be the happiest. Maybe it is because there is no cameras in restrooms so they feel they can commit their crime without consequence? Anyone who understands the laws of the universe will realize how foolish that line of thinking is.
The other great question I have is why some people begin to treat others harshly when given a position of power? This really should be the opposite of what happens. With great reward comes great responsibility. Whether influence or power, we should use it for good. The more you have of either of those, the greater the opportunity you have to use them for good. There is never a time that you become important enough that kindness ceases to be a requirement. Quite the opposite is true. When you become more famous, or powerful, you have others looking up to you. It is then that your kindness can be appreciated by others.
When I become a famous best-selling author, I look forward to being able to help and inspire many others to do the same. I am doing that on a smaller scale now. That is another important fact that I do not happen to have a sign for. It is never too early to start practicing kindness. If you want to be charitable and think you have to wait until you win the lottery, that is simply not so. Donating a dime out of a dollar can be even more meaningful than a million out of ten million.
The takeaway today is this – it is never too early, and you are never too important to be kind. Be kind to everyone and everything you meet today. It will not only make the world a better place, especially for those you are kind too, but it will make your own heart a little happier and your own spirit a little brighter.
Today, in the United States, it is what they call ‘Black Friday’. One of the biggest shopping days of the year. In the past, it was marked with people acting crazy, some even resorting to violence, all in the name of getting a good price on a product. Luckily, that has improved slightly with the online shopping avenue.
Still, as you go out today, remember to be kind. To the workers. They are stressed with being so busy. They are also probably working long hours. There are people shopping who may be feeling sad about being unable to purchase what they really want for their loved ones. There will be people who are stressed because they are just trying to get through the day but it is taking longer than normal because of all the people out and about. Finally, there are people with heavy hearts facing the first holiday after losing a loved one.
You have the power to add a little joy to each of these people’s lives. Use that power today. Each bit of kindness makes the world a better place whether you see it or not.
SECRET 2 AN AMAZING LIFE 