The Kindness Box

[Geoff-Allen]

How Can I Help People Who Are Suffering?

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

Comes from this site -

How Can I Help People Who Are Suffering? - C.S. Lewis Institute

An interview with best-selling author and Bible teacher Nancy Guthrie on helping those who are suffering.

www.cslewisinstitute.org

Cheers!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Support from friends, family and health professionals, plays a significant role in the recovery process of someone experiencing a mental health issue. Educating yourself about mental health conditions is the foundation to providing the best support possible.

Our information is aimed at helping friends, family and carers support their loved ones and take care of themselves too.

Helping someone else with their mental health - Black Dog Institute | Better Mental Health

You are never expected to treat or manage the mental health of loved ones, but we all have it in us to assist them in seeking help and their recovery.

www.blackdoginstitute.org.au

All the best!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Eight tips for talking about mental health

1. Set time aside with no distractions

It is important to provide an open and non-judgemental space with no distractions.

2. Let them share as much or as little as they want to

Let them lead the discussion at their own pace. Don’t pressure them to tell you anything they aren’t ready to talk about. Talking can take a lot of trust and courage. You might be the first person they have been able to talk to about this.

To read the other tips -

How to support someone with a mental health problem

We all go through tough times and people help us through them. Other times we have been worried about other people’s mental health.

www.mentalhealth.org.uk

Hope this helps!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

“Some people find the teachings I offer helpful because I encourage them to be kind to themselves – but this does not mean pampering our neurosis. The kindness that I learned from my teachers, and that I wish so much to convey to other people, is kindness toward all qualities of our being. The qualities that are the toughest to be kind to are the painful parts, where we feel ashamed, as if we don’t belong, as if we’ve just blown it, when things are falling apart for us. Maitri means sticking with ourselves when we don’t have anything, when we feel like a loser. And it becomes the basis for extending the same unconditional friendliness to others.”

“But loving-kindness – maitri – toward ourselves doesn’t mean getting rid of anything. Maitri means we can still be crazy, we can still be angry. We can still be timid or jealous or full of feelings of unworthiness. The ground of practice is you or me or whoever we are right now, just as we are. That is what we come to know with tremendous curiosity and interest.”

“Curiosity involves being gentle, precise, and open – actually being able to let go and open. Gentleness is a sense of good-heartedness toward ourselves. Precision is being able to see clearly, not being afraid to see what’s really there. Openness is being able to let go and to open. When you have this kind of honesty, gentleness, and good-heartedness, combined with clarity about yourself, there’s no obstacle to feeling loving-kindness for others as well.”

Many more in this collection -

https://pemachodronfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/The-Essential-Pema-Study-Guide.pdf

Cheers!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

The Power of Kindness (and One Surefire Way to Know If You “Get” Mindfulness)

If you think mindfulness is just about neutral noticing and non-judgement, then something important is missing

Mindfulness is just not neutral noticing. There are a clear set of attitudes which underpin the practice, and compassion may be the most important. Mindfulness just isn’t mindfulness without kindfulness. From the very first time we’re invited to come back to attention, we’re reminded to do this gently. Without this emphasis on friendliness, we set ourselves up for an internal battle, making struggle and stress as we try to force focus. Many people do get frustrated when they notice attention wandering, and it’s a key learning when they realize this noticing itself is mindfulness, and that it brings a chance to express care, understanding, patience, and love.

The Power of Kindness (and One Surefire Way to Know If You "Get" Mindfulness)

If you think mindfulness is just about neutral noticing and non-judgement, then something important is missing, says Ed Halliwell.

www.mindful.org

All the best!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Meditation Teacher Sharon Salzberg Talks About the Power of Loving-Kindness -

Founding editor Barry Boyce talks with his dear friend Sharon Salzberg about attention, resilience, anger, and the need to be kinder to ourselves and the world.

Barry Boyce: You’ve been practicing mindfulness for quite some time and I’ve heard you talk about how meditation and kindness are inseparably linked. Can you explain?

Sharon Salzberg: Let me start with a little background. Nowadays, if you want to practice meditation, there are meditation centers and studios all over the place. Or you could take a course. You can go on online and find 50 or 100 books on meditation.

When I started, in the early ’70s, lots of us went to Asia. I chose India.

Meditation Teacher Sharon Salzberg Talks About the Power of Loving-Kindness

Founding editor Barry Boyce talks with his dear friend Sharon Salzberg about attention, resilience, anger, and the need to be kinder to ourselves and the world.

www.mindful.org

Cheers!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Children’s Books That Show Kids the Goodness in the World

You can be forgiven if, in recent times, it’s gotten harder for you to show and tell your kids stories that reflect goodness and a spirit of community. My boys, now teens, are old enough to absorb not just negative news stories, but my reactions to them. So I find myself casting about for the good stories to counterbalance the bad. We got lucky last winter when, while walking through a local park, we saw a bird in a pond, struggling helplessly, its wing tethered to a tree by a length of fishing line. My husband — a more intrepid person than I (this was winter, remember) — waded chest-deep into the mucky pond to free the bird. My husband’s a good guy, but he’s hardly alone. Just a few weeks ago at a beach in Florida, scores of beachgoers formed a human chain in the surf, saving a family that was in danger of being swept out to sea in a rough riptide.

Read about the books -

Children’s Books That Show Kids the Goodness in the World | Brightly

Looking to share stories with your kids that reflect the positive in the world? These books bring to life tales of the innate goodness of our fellow humans.

www.readbrightly.com

All the best!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

My parents raised me with the notion that “you are no better than anyone else and no one is better than you.” It’s a piece of wisdom that I carried with me throughout my adulthood and I think is something most kids should hear. It’s the basic And as I grew up, I realized there were lots of people who never heard that same wisdom and their actions proved it.

In a world where so many people are struggling to get by, and where poor mental health is becoming its own pandemic in the world, it’s important that kids are not only raised to know what’s important but also what it means to be a good person. Good kids grow up to be good people who want to share goodness in their community.

Ways to Teach Kids to Be Good People - School Supply Boxes

Discover ways to teach kids to be good people with School Supply Boxes. We share valuable tips to instill kindness, respect, and empathy in children.

schoolsupplyboxes.com

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Activity #2: Be Kind! Bible Game​

Prepare: Bible, Be Kind! Bible Game cards, “Love One Another” song by YancynotNancy (There’s a music video of this song on YouTube that’s FREE for family use.)

Say: What does it mean to be kind? We’re kind when we smile at people, when we help them, or when we use friendly, helpful words instead of mean ones. We’re going to play a game. We’ll take turns picking a picture and thinking about ways to be kind in different situations. We’ll take turns grabbing a card and thinking about ways to be kind in different situations.

Do: Prepare the Being Unkind/Kind cards ahead of time and put them in a container. Have children take turns grabbing cards from the container and showing or telling what kindness or unkindness can look like in each scenario. If the scenario is unkind, have the children brainstorm ways to fix it by showing kindness instead. After each turn, shout “Be kind to one another!” together.

(You can pretty easily make up your own cards with scenarios of kindness and unkindness, or you can download and use these FREE Be Kind! Bible Game cards that are ready to print and play! Here’s what they look like. Click here to download them.)

Read the other activities here -

Talking to Kids About Kindness

If you’re watching the news and keeping up with current events, you’re probably struck by the brokenness of our world. The world has always been broken, but right now the brokenness and sadness are…

kidsenjoyingjesus.com

Cheers!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

75 Ways Kids Can Show They Care

Found this page while browsing around in cyberspace - some good ideas and many quite simple -

75 Ways Kids Can Show They Care | Columbus Area United Way

The Columbus Area United Way turned 75 years old this year! To celebrate, we are doing our best to help as many people as we can this year -- and we need your help! We’ve put together 75 ways you can show you care for others. You can also come up with your own ways. You can make a difference, it...

www.columbusunitedway.com

All the best!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

I was asked by Global Citizen to share about volunteering and ways to help others in need. All opinions here are my own.

As the mom to two young school-aged girls, I am very aware of raising my daughters to be kind and to give to others.

See many are not as fortunate as my girls. Therefore, I want my kids to understand this. I also hope that as they do grow up they never forget to help others.

In that way, I have made sure over the years to continually have my girls give and volunteer to help others. I also have made sure to have age-appropriate activities for them with volunteering and giving back.

10 Simple Ways All Kids Can Help Others - COAM

Discussing ways that young kids can help others by volunteering and giving back in their own community. Learn some ways and download a FREE printable.

www.janinehuldie.com

Enjoy your browsing!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Great thinkers from Martin Luther King Jr. to the Dalai Lama to my daughter, Addison, all have had something to say about the importance of helping others. The civil-rights leader stated, "Life's most persistent and nagging question is 'What are you doing for others?'" The soft-spoken spiritual leader called doing good deeds "our prime purpose." And my 12-year-old put it this way: "Helping feels good because it's nice for the other person and for you."

Smart words. And as it turns out, kids are actually hardwired to be considerate and kind. "The desire to help is innate," says David Schonfeld, M.D., director of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. And their sense of doing good develops as they grow. "At first, children like to help others because it helps them get what they want. Next, they do so because they get praise. Finally, they begin to anticipate the needs of others, and it becomes intrinsically rewarding to do nice things for people in their lives."

6 Ways to Teach Kids to Be Kind

The best thing you can do to make the world a better place is to create a culture of kindness in your own home. Consider these ways to show your children why the Golden Rule rules.

www.parents.com

Cheers!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Like many things, kindness is a quality that children learn over time and through practice. Thankfully, there are many things you can do to encourage your child to be a kinder, gentler person. (For starters, you can share books that encourage kindness.) Research has found that the desire to help and comfort comes just as naturally to humans as being self-centered or hurtful. "It's almost as though we're born predisposed to be upset by other people's pain," says Alfie Kohn, author of The Brighter Side of Human Nature: Altruism and Empathy in Everyday Life.

How Empathy Grows

Empathy — the ability to understand another person's feelings — develops over time. A 2-year-old may try to comfort a crying playmate by offering her own pacifier or blankie. While she is not able to understand why her friend is crying, she remembers times when she felt sad and knows what comforts her. At 3, children are more aware of others, but they still have trouble relating to how others actually feel. They may delight, for example, in knocking down someone else's block tower and not understand why the child who built it is so upset.

By age 4, children can better understand when they've hurt someone and can sometimes offer an apology without being told. They are also quite empathetic about another child's injuries.

By the time children are 5 or 6, they often can share more easily and take turns. And they are able to discuss what it means to be kind and can brainstorm ideas for how they might help people.

13 Ways to Raise a Caring and Compassionate Child

When it comes to kindness, you are your child's primary teacher. Here's how to develop empathy in your child as a character trait and value.

www.scholastic.com

All the best!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

According to psychologist Dr. Dale Adkins, we can develop our children’s desire to be compassionate by noticing when they are. It’s also important we treat our children with the kindness and compassion we want to see from them.

She says, “Kind kids are interested in other people, they’re accepting, they’re not so judgmental. They’re willing to listen, they’re empathetic.”

How do we help our children understand that by helping others, we help ourselves? We guide them to notice the joy they receive from knowing someone is better off because of them.

3 Ways for Children to Support Children

How do we help our children understand that by helping others, we help ourselves? We guide them to noticing the joy they receive from knowing someone is better off because of them. Here are 3 ways children can support children.

biglifejournal.com

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Give1 is a campaign by TLC for Kids to ensure that the most vulnerable people in our communities always have a safety net to catch them.

Sick children and their families are suffering even more so due to the global pandemic. Grand gestures or fancy experiences won’t help – that’s why we are empowering families by helping them with their basic needs, enabling them to focus on caring for their child

Every $1 makes a difference, especially in these challenging times for so many people.

give1 - TLC for Kids

Give1 Campaign by TLC for Kids ensures that the most vulnerable people in our communities always have a safety net to catch them.

www.tlcforkids.org.au

Cheers!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Here is a monk I may have mentioned before.

He has written a number of books including one on altruism and this search tosses up quite a few videos - so I can't vouch for ALL of them at this point in the proceedings!

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Book+summary+Matthieu+Ricard+altruism

Here is the first to arouse my curiosity -

But feel free to click on any of the talks & summaries

All the best!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

9 effective ways to comfort someone:

1. Ask them what you can do for them.

The question of how to comfort someone can usually be answered by the person you're trying to comfort themselves. And in fact, according to somatic therapist Holly Richmond, Ph.D., it's a good idea to ask, because everyone finds comfort in different things.

Reasd the rest here -

9 Truly Helpful Ways To Comfort Someone, From Therapists | mindbodygreen

You might feel uncertain about how to comfort someone, which is why we rounded up the best ways to really do it, including if you're the one who hurt them.

www.mindbodygreen.com

Cheers!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Lots of people experience depression, while others just have bad days or just are feeling down on themselves. No matter why they’re depressed, sad, or unmotivated to do much of anything, one thing is certain — it’s a tough feeling to experience. Depression is isolating — like you’re all alone in it, and that it will never end.

As a friend or partner of someone who’s experiencing that depression or feeling blue, what can you do to help? After all, there’s a lot of advice telling you what not to say to a depressed person and things that most people don’t want to hear when they’re feeling down.

We crowd-sourced the following list by querying our Facebook friends about what they’d like to hear when they’re feeling down, blue, or depressed. Here are a few of their very, very good suggestions.

What to Say to Someone who Feels Down or Depressed

Lots of people experience depression, while others just have bad days or just are feeling down on themselves.

psychcentral.com

All the best

 

[Geoff-Allen]

At the risk of really labouring the point?

Those three little words, “I love you,” can make a bigger impact than you know. During a difficult time, your family member or friend needs all the love they can get.

Beyond expressing your love with words, your actions can speak volumes as well. Offer to help out around the house, start a fundraiser, or give a thoughtful gift. It’s important to consider something practical that they would find useful or reminds them of a more positive time in their lives.

Here are some more ideas to show someone you love them.

Read the full article here -

CaringBridge

Help ensure no one goes through a health journey alone.

www.caringbridge.org

Cheers!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

The power of deep listening

Try this search over at YouTube -

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=The+power+of+deep+listening

Enjoy your viewing!